Installation view, Annika Elisabeth von Hausswolff, Faraway So Close at the House of Sweden, Washington, D.C, USA, 2022.
House of Sweden, Washington D.C, USA
Faraway So Close: Swedish Artists Look at the United States, an exhibition with photography and video art, shows how American culture and society have been depicted by prominent Swedish artists. Documentary images from the 1960s are shown in parallel with contemporary Swedish artists' views of the United States today. Many of the participating artists are particularly interested in exploring a different reality of the United States—one that goes beyond the more traditional and idealized view that is often encountered in Sweden.
Following the Second World War, American popular culture grew and spread in Sweden, and it has been a dominant factor in the Swedish cultural scene ever since. Sweden was among the first countries to recognize the United States as an independent nation in 1783. From the mid-19th century to the early 20th century, more than a third of the Swedish population emigrated to America due to poverty. Today, 3.8 million Americans are of Swedish descent. This large-scale emigration, and the transatlantic correspondence and return migration that followed, created a relationship with the United States that is so close that it can only be compared to the relationship Swedes have with their Nordic neighbors.
The selection of art works in this exhibition reflects the participating artists' personal views on Sweden's “neighboring” country on the other side of the Atlantic.
Please click here to find out more about the exhibition.
Please click here to find out more about the exhibition.
