MOMENT 4: Images of a Socialist World: Treasures from the Archive

Gun Kessle was one of many cultural workers in Sweden who, during the 1960s and 1970s, documented life in communist countries, not least China, Vietnam, Albania, and parts of the Soviet Union. She traveled with her husband Jan Myrdal, and their joint work was published in so-called reportage books—a literary genre that Myrdal and Kessle helped to establish. The content is characterized by a mix of personal experiences, reflections, interviews, and facts. The books are illustrated with documentary photographs that are presented in a simple and often stark print. It was a genre for which distribution and accessibility were more important than the quality of the reproductions.

During the same period, starting already in 1947, the magazine "Vi kvinnor" (Us Women) was published. It was published by SKV and changed its name to "Vi mänskor" (Us People) in 1969. The struggle for peace and equality was central, and a recurring theme is depictions of women's experiences and lives in other countries, often socialist. In KvinnSam's archives, there is material from SKV, which includes several "photo stories" produced and distributed by Soviet party organs, the majority of which are from the 1950s. The images and accompanying captions depict a well-functioning and equal society where family and professional life are combined without difficulty, and where women occupy a prominent place in all parts of society. However, these positive portrayals should be viewed against the backdrop of the oppression that existed in the country under the Stalinist regime.

A similar perspective and aesthetic approach characterizes the lavish photo magazine China, which was published in Beijing starting in 1950 and had a global reach. It uncritically praises Party Chairman Mao Zedong's leadership of the country and reports on industrial and scientific progress; education, culture, and family life; as well as China's good relations with other socialist countries around the world. The photo magazine was published in several major languages, including Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Russian, English, German, French, Spanish – and from 1964, it also came out in a completely Swedish-language edition, aptly named "Kina" (China). An issue was printed each month for a readership within a language area consisting of no more than 8 million people. The fact that the magazine lists several retailers in Stockholm, Lund, and Gothenburg also testifies to local awareness and a developed organization.

The three examples raise many questions, and the presentation is the beginning of an investigation, not a report of research findings. For instance, why has Gun Kessle had, and still has, such an obscure place in the writing of Swedish photographic history, and why were her images so rarely seen in "Vi kvinnor," despite the significant overlaps, or included in the major manifestations of women's culture that took place during the 1970s? How did the images from the Soviet Union actually end up at SKV? Where and in what ways were they shown (if at all), and how were they received? What was the background to the Swedish edition of "Kina" (China), and who was involved? Another, broader question concerns the prerogative of interpretation and who or what governs how the images should be understood. They also prompt reflection on the relationship between the documentary and the propagandistic, viewed in the light of established notions about photography's ability to depict reality.

Curators: Rachel Pierce, Martin Öhman and Niclas Östlind

Photo and graphic design: Thobias Fäldt