What happened to the idea of the welfare state in Sweden? Do people still believe in the values of the common good? Or does the neoliberal philosophy of competitive individualism and intensified private pleasures determine how people live their everyday life?
These were the questions that the Academy of Fine Arts Umeå project group formulated at the outset of our 2 year project We invite all. In discussions with sociologists and historians and through collecting and analysing material from everyday visual culture, the group came to the conclusion that the answer to both question is yes. The philosophy of everyday life in Sweden in fact seems to be characterised by the paradox co-existence of two mutually exclusive ideologies. People appear to be constantly navigating between an almost patriotic belief and trust in the standards of the welfare state and the desire to intensify their lives by consuming all those media and lifestyle products that promise greater individual freedom, excitement and antagonism.
A research- and exhibition project by the Academy of Fine Arts Umeå Project Group: (AUPG)
Erica Bergman, Magni Borgehed, Kalle Brolin, Anna Henriksson, David Helander, Janna Holmstedt, Ingela Johansson, Andreas Kurtsson, Eva Linder, Kamilla Levring, Marie Magnusson, Lars Nilsson, Åsa Norberg, Stina Pettersson, Jennie Sundén, Eva Marie Lindahl, Ninia Sverdrup, Nina Svensson, Solveig Lindgren.
