JR – Déplacé·e·s

JR's art combines photography, public art, and social engagement in large-scale works. The exhibition marks JR's first solo exhibition in the Nordic region.

Déplacé·e·s is a series of images depicting the millions of children displaced around the world. For each image, JR and his team travelled to places where families sought refuge due to war and climate disasters, including Ukraine, Rwanda, Mauritania, Colombia, and Greece. With the help of the local community in each location, they unfurled an image of a refugee child on a 45-meter-long banner.

In the Déplacé-e-s exhibition, first shown at Gallerie d'Italia in Turin in spring 2023, the images of all these refugee children are displayed in one place. Valeriia, Thierry, Kevine, Andiara, Angel, Jamal, Ajara, Moise, and Mozhda are the names and faces representing these forced displacements. By enlarging their portraits on huge banners, JR gives dignity and visibility to people who have been deprived of it. When the exhibition is presented at Kulturhuset Stadsteatern, several additions have been made, including an in-depth film describing the various projects JR has worked on, including in Israel and Palestine.

For opening hours and tickets, see our Swedish page about the exhibition.

Making refugee camps visible

Refugee camps also play a significant role in the exhibition. Visitors to the exhibition can immerse themselves in the refugee camps as a space through an encompassing video projection, a so-called immersive room. The exhibition compels the audience to visit these camps, meet the refugees face to face, and face the crisis they face. The exhibition also aims to inspire action and poses the question that JR's art often revolves around: can art change the world?

Using the street as a canvas – activities at Sergels torg

During the opening week, JR's Inside Out project comes to Sergels torg. Since the project's launch in 2011, over 500,000 people from 152 countries and territories have participated in the project, which involves participants taking large-scale black-and-white portraits, which are then pasted in public spaces. Now it's Stockholm´s turn in one of the city's most visited locations! The Inside Out Photobooth Truck will be stationed in Sergels torg, inviting people to take their portrait and see themselves reflected in a mosaic of the community. The program at Sergels torg is implemented by På Sergels torg.

About JR 

JR exhibits freely in the streets of the world, catching the attention of people who are not typical museum visitors. From the suburbs of Paris to the slums of Brazil to the streets of Istanbul, JR pastes huge portraits of little-known people. In 2011, after receiving the TED Prize, JR created Inside Out, a global participatory art project that helps communities to make a statement by displaying large-scale black and white portraits in public spaces. As he remains anonymous, JR leaves the space open for an encounter between the subject/protagonist and the passer-by/interpreter. That is what JR's work is about, raising questions.