Simon Ferner: SLAGG
Sven and Ellida Hjort’s Stipend Exhibition
15 Feb–23 Mar 2025
Vernissage: 14 Feb, 18.00–21.00

With the gaze turned towards the ground and the landscape, artist Simon Ferner explores how remnants of history testify to what has been neglected or forgotten. His exhibition SLAGG at Skånes konstförening revolves around LAMCO, a former industrial syndicate with ties to Limhamn, Lomma, and Grängesberg. Ferner follows the traces of the companies’ massive mining project and their colonial claims in Liberian Nimba, a region that, in the 1960s and 1970s, was one of the world’s largest iron ore producers.

Ferner, who himself grew up in the aftermath of the Grängesberg mine’s closure, has over the years created an extensive archive of found materials from the different locations in Sweden and Liberia. Textiles, stones, poisoned plants, mining waste and images are assembled in the exhibition to create new connections and juxtapositions, allowing the different geographies to converge in a shared history. Here, the slag rises to the surface, shaping new stories that bear witness to both the memory and the future of the places.

About the artist
Simon Ferner’s artistic practice revolves around forgotten and hidden parts of our common history. Through research in archives, libraries and museum collections, he connects and maps unexplored stories together with site-specific investigations. His works raise questions about how these places bear their history and what traces remain today. Since 2020, he has been running Arkiv S, a collection of accounts of racist violence in Sweden, with a focus on the 1990s. Ferner studied at the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm and has previously exhibited at Vallentuna kulturhus, Lunds konsthall and Ställbergs Gruva, as well as in Malmö with the project Antirasistisk Monument.

About the stipend
The Sven and Ellida Hjorts Exhibition Grant is awarded annually to an emerging artist from Skåne. The awarded artist is chosen by a jury appointed by the board of Skånes konstförening. The 2024 jury consisted of Sofia Persson (Plattform KC Syd), Roxana Kaboli (Form/Design Center), and Ina Nian (artist). Previous recipients include Stacey de Voe, Matilda Tjäder, Cia Kanthi, Ikram Abdulkadir, LealVeileby and Hanni Kamaly.

Curators: Albin Hillervik & Janneke Schoene