Tobias Liljedahl:
Sjøfartsmuseum

The container is a standardized transport unit. It’s the vessel that carries food, electronics, narcotics, clothing, weapons—and sometimes even people. Almost everything arrives in containers, and when the container doesn’t arrive, our material world as we know it can be at risk.

The container has become an icon of modernity and globalization, its simple, rectangular shape revolutionizing our understanding of trade, logistics, and economy. As a freight unit, the container serves as an artery in the global economy, pumping goods out to consumers, while the aesthetic of its hidden logic shapes urban landscapes and industrial zones around the world.

In "Sjøfartsmuseum", Liljedahl guides us through an exploration of the shipping container’s history and context with a sweeping panoramic film, photography, and a monumental sculpture. A life-sized sculpture of a sinking container occupies the entire outer gallery space, conjuring a dystopian scenario that imagines a world where things don’t go as planned.

The artist’s play with format and scale is also evident in a circular video display and in his two-channel panoramic film Rotterdam, where we see massive cargo ships glide by, accompanied by images of the sublime industrial landscape of Rotterdam—Europe’s largest container port.

“Sjøfartsmuseum” is Tobias Liljedahl’s first major solo exhibition in Trondheim, exploring a narrative about shipping and commerce that we may not realize impacts our daily lives and surroundings, yet indirectly holds great significance for us.