Member of the Swedish Gallery Association
Official Art Portfolio – World Championships in Athletics, Gothenburg 1995
A Gallery’s first major project was the Official Art Portfolio for the 5th IAAF World Championships in Athletics, held in Gothenburg in 1995 – a moment where art and sport met on an international stage. This portfolio brought together five distinct voices from the Swedish art scene: Helene Billgren, Ernst Billgren, Roland Borén, Håkan Carlsson and Graham Stacy, with a preface by renowned artist Peter Dahl.
The portfolio was conceived as a cultural counterpart to the athletic event, capturing the spirit of the time through artistic expression rather than documentation. It was one of the earliest instances where contemporary art was invited to be part of a major global sporting event, reinforcing the idea that art and culture are essential dimensions of shared human experience.
The 1995 World Championships themselves were a landmark in the history of track and field: 1,804 athletes from 191 nations competed, and the event saw the women’s 5000 m race introduced for the first time, replacing the 3000 m run that had been part of all previous editions.
Several of the portfolio works have circulated in collections and auction histories. For example, a folder of lithographs attributed to the event – with imagery by Graham Stacy, Helene Billgren, Roland Borén and Håkan Carlsson – is documented as a collectible object, underscoring the tangible legacy of the project in the art market today.
This portfolio was more than a catalogue; it was a statement about why art matters in public life, how artistic voices intersect with cultural moments, and how an inaugural project can define the trajectory of an art initiative. For A Gallery, it wasn’t just a first show — it was a declaration of intent.