How do photographs and films capture the traces of migration? Moment 8 is a one day seminar organised by GPS400:Centre for Collaborative Visual Research at the University of Gothenburg that explores lens-based representations of migration in Sweden from 1939 to the 1970s—a period of change, labor migration, and global movements. During this seminar VISU member Katarzyna Ruchel-Stockmans will present her research on "Artistic interventions into migration histories through vernacular lens media images."
Photographs and films can both tell the story of and carry traces of migration. Lens-based media also possess an inherent ability to situate these narratives in time and space beyond their original contexts.
The creation, circulation, and displacement of images are deeply influenced by social and technological factors. In the decades following World War II, Sweden experienced significant economic growth.
The demand for industrial labor was high, and during the 1950s and 1960s, labor migration reached record levels. Most migrants who came to Sweden for work arrived from the Nordic countries, primarily Finland, but also from Southern Europe. There was also substantial domestic migration from rural areas to urban centers, which rapidly transformed Sweden’s demographic landscape.
Labor migration slowed in the early 1970s when Sweden and the Western world faced an economic crisis. The postwar world order—both established and renegotiated in the shadow of the Cold War and the struggles for decolonization—also led people to migrate for political and humanitarian reasons. In this way, migration to Sweden reflects broader global movements.
With Moment 8, we turn our focus to lens-based representations of migration in Sweden from 1939 into the 1970s.
What visual practices existed among migrants, and what role did they play? And how have these images since migrated, taking on new significance both within and beyond the archives?
Programme
10:00 - 10:15 Introduction
10:15 - 10:45 A reformulated meeting / Cecilia Järdemar
10:50 - 11:20 Sweden your new country - a book about immigration and integration in the record years / Niclas Östlind
11:25 - 12:05 Domestic migration in Swedish TV drama during the record years / Per Vesterlund
Lunch break
13:20 - 13:50 Migration waves / Marie Hellervik
13:55 - 14:25 A new home through photographs / Karl-Magnus Johansson
14:30 - 15:00 Refugee policy debt cancellation - Geographical, mental and media boundaries in Swedish short and newspaper films about migration in 1943, 1944 and 1945 / Åsa Bergström & Mats Jönsson
15:05 - 15:35 Borderless glass workers - immigration to Sweden with a focus on the glass industry / Gunnel Holmér
Break in the programme
15:55-16:25 Artistic interventions into migration histories through vernacular lens media images / Katarzyna Ruchel-Stockmans
16:30 - 17:15 Trains, Detergents, and One Sauna / Sandra Krizic Roban
17:15 - 17:30 Summarising discussion
Want to attend? Email stefan.jensen@gu.se to book a seat.