The exhibition is produced by Bildmuseet as part of a three-year research project at HDK-Valand, funded by the Swedish Research Council. Curator: Cecilia Andersson.
Nina Mangalanayagam, from the series Blank Pages, 2026 © Nina Mangalanayagam. Courtesy of the artist.
Working across photography, film and sound installation, Nina Mangalanayagam explores questions of belonging and complex identities, often through an autobiographical approach. At Bildmuseet, she presents new works examining Sweden’s colonial past and its relevance today.
In the exhibition Blank Pages, we encounter traces of the Swedish colony of Saint Barthélemy from the perspective of a Black woman. Mangalanayagam draws on the figure of Ulrica, a woman found in the archives, to explore a position that remains difficult to access within Swedish history. Through archival fragments and absences, she brings together conflicting narratives, offering new perspectives on Sweden’s colonial history and its impact on contemporary society.
Nina Mangalanayagam (b. 1980) grew up in Sweden with a Danish–Sri Lankan heritage. She studied photography at the Royal College of Art and holds a practice-based doctorate from the University of Westminster. She is a senior lecturer at HDK-Valand, University of Gothenburg, where she also conducts her artistic research.
The exhibition is produced by Bildmuseet as part of a three-year research project at HDK-Valand, funded by the Swedish Research Council. Curator: Cecilia Andersson.