Weronika Bela & Ivar Hagren
Studio grant holders in Stockholm 5 May – 25 October 2022
Artist duo Weronika Bela and Ivar Hagren are based in Hökarängen, Stockholm. Hagren & Bela’s work takes its point of departure in the history of photography, often through personal micro-stories. Their preferred medium is analogue black-and-white photography and they employ both traditional and experimental techniques in the dark room. Their practice also includes drawing, installation, archive material and text.
Photo: Weronika Bela och Ivar Hagren
During their residency at IASPIS, Ivar and Weronika will immerse themselves in the earlier project Meteorologiskt/privat, a photographic in-depth study of Weronika’s paternal grandparents’ life and work at a weather station in the Polish city of Przemysl, situated 5 km from the Ukrainian border. They will also research the photographic material company ORWO who held a monopoly over photographic darkroom material in the Eastern bloc market before ceasing operations in connection with the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Ivar Hagren received his BA from HDK-Valand – Academy of Art and Design, Gothenburg in 2012 and his MA in Fine Art from Konstfack University of Arts, Craft and Design, Stockholm in 2014. Weronika Bela received her BA and MA in Fine Art from Konstfack in 2013 respectively 2015. Their work has been exhibited in Sweden and internationally, including Poland, Finland and Greece.