A group show at Riche featuring:
Isa Andersson, Alexander Bäckman, Robert Berggren, Patrik Beskow, Jesper Dahl, Susanna Dahl, Payman Dehdezi, Pontus Djanaieff & Pelle Bergström, Adina & Teddy Fohlin, Sanna Fried, Hedvig Haeger, Imaskopi, Ellen Ingeroth, Torsten Jurell, Inhae Kim, Therese Kugelberg, Joanna Lindell, Monsieur Merveilleux, Margareta Petersson, William Reed, Mika Minja Sjölund, Lina Söderström, Ingrid Segring
—
One year ago, on a late evening at JUS, Robert Berggren shared an upcoming design element from his new project, Core RD Knitting Co, with his friend Jesper Dahl: an iron-on patch featuring Robert’s beloved dog, Hugo—who has since passed away.
Hugo was not only Berggren’s cherished pet but also his constant companion. At the heart of this project is the idea of transforming a deeply personal memory into something larger, public, and, through art, timeless.
Grief and the bond we share with beloved animals are usually private matters. But here, they are given space to become something broader and more open than we’re accustomed to. Twenty years from now, images of Hugo may still exist—perhaps with friends, perhaps with strangers—preserved in an elevated form and context.
Hugo was truly one of a kind. From the moment he leapt into the passenger seat on his way to a new life, to the last time he retrieved a rock as big as his head from the bottom of a stream. The breeder had not intended for Hugo to live, had Berggren not taken him home that day.
More than twenty years ago, Hugo was immortalized in a portrait by Peter Farago during the era of the fashion brand Pour. The photo was later turned into an iron-on patch produced in Varberg. These patches were long forgotten in Berggren’s extensive archive, only to be rediscovered when Core came to life.
As with the many creative ventures Berggren has been part of, the aim now is to bring together talented artists, designers, and friends to create new work inspired by Hugo—art born from art, turning the personal into the collective. A creative process that carries memory forward.
//
Robert Berggren & Jesper Dahl