Exhibition. Galleri CFF
Mia Rogersdotter Gran: Ädno / Älven / The River
Mia Rogersdotter Gran
20220423 - 20220619
The exhibition is an artistic exploration of the Lule River through photography, moving images, and archival material. The river is one of many examples of waterways developed with hydropower, which has given much but also taken from humanity. The personal relationship to the place is a recurring starting point in Mia Rogersdotter Gran’s artistic practice. In 2017, she began to reflect on the river she grew up around, which culminated in the self-published book Ädno / Älven / The River in 2020, on which the exhibition is based.
The places through which the Lule River rushes have been inhabited by many, and the river’s name comes from the Lule Sami lulij, which can be translated as “the one who lives in the east”. The photographs in the exhibition are taken around the 15 power plants that are scattered along the river valley, which were built between 1915 and 1977. The landscape has been transformed from having Europe’s most dramatic rapids and waterfalls to becoming a tranquil industrial landscape where the hydropower produced is enough to light up all of Sweden, around the clock, all year round.
The photographs show no people, only nature and the power plants with their infrastructure. Through the quiet documentation and archival material, human impact on nature and the changes to biotopes, ecosystems, and the landscape that development has required are highlighted.
Mia Rogersdotter Gran (b. 1987 Luleå) is an artist who works with photography, video, and text. She is currently based in Umeå and Granö. She has a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Konstfack (2015) and a master’s degree in photography from HDK-Valand (2021). She has exhibited at Luleå Konsthall, Härnösand Konsthall, Galleri Syster, and Sune Jonsson Center for Documentary Photography, among others.
In 2018, Rogersdotter Gran was awarded the Hasselblad Foundation’s grant in nature photography, which made it possible to carry out the Ädno / Älven / The River project. In 2020, she published the self-published photo book of the same name.
