Welcome to the biosphere – an exhibition at Svenskt Tenn about meat consumption, palm oil, plastic, norms, ethics and the economy

Carbon dioxide emissions and meat consumption, ethics and the economy: These are some of the themes that are explored in Welcome to the biosphere, a climate exhibition by artists Eric Ericson and Lars Arrhenius. The exhibition, which is based on research from the Beijer Institute, opens at Svenskt Tenn on August 22, 2019.

Eric Ericson and Lars Arrhenius have previously created several works dealing with ethics, the economy and sustainability. Together with Svenskt Tenn’s curator Karin Södergren the artists have created an instructional, witty, and at the same time deeply serious exhibition, which describes the situation on earth. The exhibition is inspired by and interprets the Beijer Institute’s research reports.

“The biosphere is a 20 kilometre wide layer where all life, including humans and our society exists,” says Carl Folke, Director of the Beijer Institute at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. “When I was a kid, we were 3.5 billion people in the world compared to nearly 8 billion inhabitants today. All of these people and all of our activities have made us a player that impacts the biosphere. We have managed to become such a dominant force on earth that it is no longer about saving species or people but rather about ensuring human survival.” What is positive, says Folke is that environmental issues have gone from being a separate entity on the fringe of society to becoming an entire sector and a highly prioritised issue in both boardrooms and at the dinner table. This is something that the exhibition raises.

“Svenskt Tenn, which is owned by the Kjell and Märta Beijer Foundation, has donated over SEK 188 million to world-leading research in, among other things, medicine and the relationship between the economy and ecology, which we today refer to as the climate issue. It is extremely important that Svenskt Tenn, as a commercial player, assumes its responsibility. It is not only up to the individual. Eric Ericson and Lars Arrhenius have helped us to interpret these complicated relationships. By studying research reports in close consultation with the Beijer Institute they have created an exhibition that educates, inspires and clarifies responsibility for climate issues,” says Maria Veerasamy, CEO at Svenskt Tenn.

“The exhibition addresses, among other things, the economy and emissions, plastic and consumption, meat and the biosphere and takes place at Svenskt Tenn,” Eric Ericson concludes.

For more information, contact:
Elin Lervik, press manager, Svenskt Tenn: +46 (0)760-12 88 00, elin.lervik@svenskttenn.se
Thommy Bindefeld, marketing and creative director, Svenskt Tenn: +46 (0)8-670 16 02, thommy.bindefeld@svenskttenn.se

Om Eric Ericson och Lars Arrhenius
Born in 1972, Eric Ericson is an author and artist who is primarily engaged in the structure and organisation of society. Ericson has, for example written the play for The Royal Theatre’s (Dramaten) Letters from Eric Ericson, documented the ruins of the city of Palmyra in Syria, and written the books Letters to Society (Brev till samhället) and The Man in Damascus (Mannen i Damaskus).
Artist Lars Arrhenius was born in 1966. He has studied at the Royal Institute of Art (Kungliga Konsthögskolan) in Stockholm and Rijksakademie in Amsterdam and is represented at a number of art museums around the world, including the Gothenburg Museum of Art, Moderna Museet in Stockholm, Malmö Art Museum, Arken in Copenhagen and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. Among other things, Ericson and Arrhenius have created the games Kalas and Panama together.

About the Beijer Institute and Carl Folke
The Beijer Institute of Ecological Economics is a leading international interdisciplinary research institute at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences with a focus on the interaction between man and the biosphere. The world’s foremost researchers have gathered here to work on various research programmes.The Kjell and Märta Beijer Foundation is the main sponsor.
Professor Carl Folke received his doctorate on ecosystems in 1990 from Stockholm University where he later became a professor in natural resource management. In the early 2000s he was elected to the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and since 2007, has been the director of the Beijer Institute. In 2016 he was the first Swede to receive the Planet and Humanity Medal, the International Geographical Union’s (IGU) highest honour to individuals who have made remarkable efforts for environmental issues. Gro Harlem Brundtland, Al Gore, Michail Gorbatjov and Nelson Mandela are among the nine previous recipients.