Artists of the African Diaspora in Sweden: Race, Resistance and Art

Abstract: This study seeks to investigate how artists of the African diaspora in Sweden manage their identity in the face of racism and how this relates to their art. This purpose is investigated through the following sub-themes: the forms of racism the participants have met, how they have coped with racism, how they move through the art field, and how these factors relate to their art. Six participants were interviewed through the use of qualitative semi-structured interviews. The results and analysis reveal that the participants face indirect racism in the form of stereotypes, subtle subjugation and exclusion, more often than they face direct racism. The participants have gone through a subjective transformation which has changed their way of coping with racism. When they were younger, they engaged in tactics of minimizing characteristics associated with blackness. Through getting older and speaking with others, they have come to see racism as a social problem, which has led them to instead direct their efforts towards social change. Within the art field, the participants are managing racism by addressing racialized preconceptions of their work, self-monitoring their behavior, and advocating for institutional change. The participants’ art resist racism in indirect but intentional ways.