Artist
Louise Sinaga Helmfrid
Louise Sinaga Helmfrid is a Swedish photographer and photo artist with Indonesian background, known for her intimate and colorful portraits that often integrate nature. Her work explores themes such as identity and cultural heritage. She has exhibited her work in places such as Fotografiska, Kulturhuset in Stockholm and Liljevalchs.
In 2024, Louise was appointed as the resident of the year by the Sune Jonsson Center for Documentary Photography at Västerbotten Museum. During her two-month residency at the Sune Jonsson Center for Documentary Photography (SJCD) at Västerbotten Museum in the fall of 2024, Louise Sinaga Helmfrid focused on documenting the Asian minority in northern Sweden. She strived to portray these individuals beyond the stereotypes often found in media and popular culture, with a particular focus on examining the relationship between minorities and the national romantic aesthetic that has long characterized the image of northern Sweden.
One of her most notable exhibitions, "Plastic Can Never Wither", was shown at the Center for Photography in Stockholm in 2024 and Liljevalchs spring salon in 2025. This portrait series examines the relationship between the Southeast and East Asian diaspora and Sweden. The project was inspired by Editha Domingo, the first Asian person Louise saw on Swedish television as a child, which led her to explore how this diaspora is represented in Sweden. With a solid track record and a number of previous projects that have addressed these complex topics in an engaging and insightful way, Louise continues to explore how images and narratives shape our perceptions of nation, culture and identity.
Plastic Can Never Wither
Plastic Can Never Wither is a photo series that explores the relationship between the Southeast & East Asian diaspora and Sweden. In 2023, Louise Sinaga Helmfrid began a project inspired by the first Asian person she saw on Swedish television, Editha Domingo, in the role of Nena in Jägarna (1996). This led her to begin investigating how and in what forms the diaspora is seen in Sweden. In a lack of interest in reporting on misrepresentation, a desire was born instead to create an archive of real stories.
The title is a tribute to the plastic flowers, which culturally connect Asia and are in many cases perceived as “cheap”, but in the same way as archives – are forever.
The people in the portraits are all there because they have a special place in the legacy we leave behind. Without Tobias Hübinette, for example, we might not have had the language to talk about ethnicity and race in Sweden in the way we can today. Without Maria Jisoo Edman and Henrik Erngren Othén, fewer people would have hoped to be reunited with their siblings and meet in the incredible after-separation that adoption entails. Without Editha Domingo, this project would never have existed. But it doesn't end there, I expect the portraits to grow. Let this exhibit serve as a reminder that plastic can never wither.
Through explorative materializations of their artform from Joanna Chia-yu Lin's soft photographic sculptures; to Jošt Dolinšek's site specific photographies printed with fine sand on black surfaces; to aluminum explosives of clandestine devices of the dark room by Nazanin Raissi; and Louise Sinaga Helmfrid's astute portrayals, they invoke undercurrent positionalities within photographic art and visual culture production.
For the second year, Fotogalleriet has engaged curators, writers, researchers from the whole Nordic region as jury constituted by Curator at Röda Sten Konsthall Amila Puzić; Liisa-Ravna Rinborg, writer, researcher and curator currently situated at The Munch Museum; Samuel Girma, a curator, activist and cultural producer from Malmø; Nkule Mbaso, Director of Fotogalleriet and Miki Gebrelul, Curator and Head of Exhibitions at Fotogalleriet.