Elgaland-Vargaland is a

conceptual art Conceptual art, also referred to as conceptualism, is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic, technical, and material concerns. Some works of conceptual art, sometimes called insta ...

project and

micronation A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified ...

conceived and developed by

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

artists

Carl Michael von Hausswolff Carl Michael von Hausswolff (born 1956) is a composer, visual artist, and curator based in Stockholm, Sweden. His main tools are recording devices (camera, tape deck, radar, sonar) used in an ongoing investigation of electricity, frequency, ar ...

and

Leif Elggren Leif Elggren (born 1950, Linköping, Sweden), is a Swedish artist who lives and works in Stockholm. Active since the late 1970s, Leif Elggren has become one of the most constantly surprising conceptual artists to work in the combined worlds of ...

in 1992. It is also known by its acronym "KREV" (KonungaRikena Elgaland-Vargaland).

Origins

Von Hausswolff and Elggren formed the name out of their own names and define the country as being the

border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...

s of other countries. The decision to found the country and name themselves kings was in reaction to Sweden still having a monarchy. The country was announced in an advert in ''

Dagens Nyheter ''Dagens Nyheter'' (, ), abbreviated ''DN'', is a daily newspaper in Sweden. It is published in Stockholm and aspires to full national and international coverage, and is widely considered Sweden's newspaper of record. History and profile ' ...

'' newspaper. It was announced on May 27, 1992. Other Scandinavian artists have had micronations, such as

Lars Vilks Lars Endel Roger Vilks (20 June 1946 – 3 October 2021) was a Swedish visual artist and activist who was known for the controversy surrounding his drawings of Muhammad. He also created the sculptures ''Nimis'' and ''Arx'', made of driftwood an ...

' Ladonia.

Operations

Elgaland-Vargaland has a flag and national anthem, issues passports and stamps on request, and has had a number of "embassies" (art exhibitions). Elggren often invokes "the image of a street-corner lunatic with a paper crown who declares himself King". In March 1994, they opened a "general consulate" at Thomas Nordanstad Gallery in New York and applied for membership of the United Nations. In 2002, on the tenth anniversary, a group of 10 travelled from Sweden to Estonia carrying only Elgaland-Vargaland passports - they were detained and their passports confiscated, and they were returned to Sweden the next day. They had planned to be turned away from each country in turn, indefinitely. The same year, they released a musical album titled "The kingdoms of Elgaland-Vargaland, 1992-2002", published by Ash International. In 2003, Elgaland-Vargaland attended a conference of micronations in Finland. As of 2007, the country had around 850 citizens and by 2014 they claimed 980 citizens. In 2007 they had 20 ambassadors; the embassy in Reykjavik opened in 1994 at the Nýlistasafninu (Museum of Fine Arts) the embassy in Berlin was opened in 2006 at the

Haus der Kulturen der Welt The Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), in English House of the World's Cultures, in Berlin is Germany's national center for the presentation and discussion of international contemporary arts, with a special focus on non-European cultures and so ...

, and the Moroccan embassy opened in 2014 before the Marrakech Biennale. A "Consulate General" was held at

Gallery 400 Gallery 400 is a not-for-profit arts exhibition space within the College of Architecture, Design, and the Arts at the University of Illinois at Chicago. It was founded in 1983 to exhibit and support art, design and architecture. Over its histor ...

in Chicago for two months in 2007-8 as part of the city's Festival of Maps. They have a number of Ministers, mainly artists, including trumpeter Greg Kelley who is Minister of Fanfares. The claims extend to other "interstitial territories" such as the transition from being asleep to wakefulness (the hypnogogic state), and

limbo In Catholic theology, Limbo (Latin '' limbus'', edge or boundary, referring to the edge of Hell) is the afterlife condition of those who die in original sin without being assigned to the Hell of the Damned. Medieval theologians of Western Euro ...

and they also regard all dead people as being citizens. In 2007, they declared at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...

that they had annexed the Isola di San Michele, an island cemetery. This annexation project appeared at the Gallery Niklas Belenius in 2008.

Reception

KREV has been described as Elggren's most well-known work. Swedish newspaper '' Expressen'' said that "their little kingdom more and more resembles a dictatorship" and noted what they perceived as flirtation by the artists with fascism. Elgaland-Vargaland was also listed in

Nick Middleton Nick Middleton (born 1960) is a British physical geographer and supernumerary fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. He specialises in desertification. Middleton was born in London, England. As a geographer, he has travelled to more than 70 coun ...

's book on Atlas of Countries That Don't Exist.

References

External links

*
The Kingdoms of Elgaland Vargaland 1992-2002
from Ash International {{micronations Micronations in Sweden Conceptual art 1992 works Swedish art