{"id":29891,"date":"2025-05-02T12:52:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T10:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/arkdes.se\/?post_type=project&p=29891"},"modified":"2025-11-06T11:18:41","modified_gmt":"2025-11-06T10:18:41","slug":"the-stockholm-exhibition-and-svea-rike","status":"publish","type":"project","link":"https:\/\/arkdes.se\/en\/projects\/the-stockholm-exhibition-and-svea-rike\/","title":{"rendered":"The Stockholm Exhibition and Svea Rike"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Svea Rike, exhibition building at the Stockholm Exhibition 1930. Architect: Gunnar Asplund. ArkDes collection.<\/i>\n \n <\/figcaption>\n <\/figure>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n
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A critical examination of The Stockholm Exhibition 1930<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Stockholm Exhibition 1930<\/em> marked a pivotal moment in the international presentation of Swedish modernity, particularly through art, architecture, and the ideals of functionalism.<\/p>\n

Despite its public acclaim—especially the pavilion Svea Rike<\/em>—the exhibition’s connections to eugenics and the political project of modern nation-building have largely been omitted from architectural history. As a guest researcher at ArkDes, Marie-Louise Richards conducted a critical analysis of the exhibition by examining materials related to Svea Rike<\/em> in the ArkDes collection.<\/p>\n

Richards is an architect, educator, and researcher at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm. Her work explores the relationship between race and architecture through citation, as well as queer, feminist, and decolonial methods. She traces critical counter-narratives to the architecture of the Swedish welfare state, often beginning with its most canonical representations.<\/p>\n

During her time at ArkDes, Richards examined how the Stockholm Exhibition can be understood in relation to broader developments in Swedish society at the time, such as the founding of the State Institute for Racial Biology in 1922 and the sterilisation laws enacted in the 1930s and 1940s.<\/p>\n

While the exhibition is often celebrated for its departure from traditional styles, it also reflected deeper ideological structures: eugenics, hygiene, and the construction of a new national identity. The Svea Rike<\/em> pavilion—the most visited and critically acclaimed part of the exhibition—served as a symbolic space that promoted the vision of a modern, industrious, and morally upright Swedish citizen.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

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Guest Researcher<\/h2>\n \n

Marie-Louise Richards<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

Financier<\/h2>\n \n

ArkDes<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

Project timeline<\/h2>\n \n

Autumn of 2022<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

About the Guest Researcher Program<\/h2>\n \n

Since 2021, ArkDes has hosted guest researchers for short-term residencies of three to six months, focusing on specific questions related to the ArkDes collection. The aim of the program is to introduce a wider range of perspectives into the ongoing research on the collection and to make academic knowledge more accessible to the public.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \n

Research Outcomes<\/h2>\n \n

The outcomes of several guest researcher projects have shaped and enriched the exhibition ArkDes Collectio<\/em>n<\/a>, which opened in 2024. The exhibition is updated annually with new original objects, and research conducted through the Guest Researcher Program can influence both its themes and content.<\/p>\n

Guest researchers also share their work through public events and an annual research conference hosted by ArkDes. Calls for new guest researchers are announced annually, typically during the spring semester.<\/p>\n

For more information about current or past projects, please contact: info@arkdes.se<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

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\n Stockholm\n <\/address>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n Open call for guest-researchers 2022 \u2013 ArkDes collection\n <\/h2>\n <\/a>\n \n
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