Entry Prohibited to Foreigners

6 june – 27 september 2015

Boden is the largest garrison town in Sweden. During the Cold War, this town of 30 000 inhabitants was the last bastion of Northern Europe against the Soviet Union. For this reason, the government restricted the entry of foreigners, and one could see signs at the entrance of Boden and its surroundings saying: “ENTRY PROHIBITED TO ALIENS”.

Today the city is widely open. It hosts many refugees from North Africa and the Middle East. On the border of Swedish banks, it has become an increasingly popular tourist destination. Boden opens up to the world. The small isolated town is also part of a whole. Its identity is changing and becomes another through others.

The opening is not a bed of roses. Does the climate of the last Swedish elections illustrate that the rise of the far-right party Sverigedemokraterna (SD) could threaten Sweden as the land of asylum*? There is a widespread withdrawal into oneself in Europe and elsewhere. Exclusion rises.

*in 2011, immigrants represented 23.1% of the population.

More information can be found in the Folder (available only in Swedish).

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

Said Adrus (UK/India) Born 1958 in Kampala, Uganda. Lives and works in London, Great Britan and in Bern, Switzerland.

Loulou Cherinet (Sweden/Ethiopia) Born 1970 in Göteborg, Sweden. Lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden and in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

Julien Creuzet (France) Born 1986 in Le Blanc Mesnil, France. Lives and works in Paris, France.

Love Enqvist (Sweden) Born 1974 in Sweden. Lives and works in both London, Great Britan and Stockholm, Sweden.

Tamrat Gezahegne (Ethiopia) Born 1977 in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Lives and works in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

Ahmad Ghossein (Libanon) Born 1981 in Beirut. Lives and works in Beirut, Lebanon.

Katia Kameli (France/Algeria) Born 1973 in Frankrike. Lives and works in Paris, France.

Jackie Karuti (Kenya) Born in Nairobi, Kenya. Lives in Nairobi, Kenya.

Mario Macilau (Mozambique) Born 1984, Maputo, Mozambique. Lives and works in Maputo, Mozambique.

Emanuel Tegene (Ethiopia) Born 1985, in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. Lives and works in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia.

Breeze Yoko (South Africa) Born 1977, in Cape Town, South Africa. Lives and works in South Africa.