Available through Safarkhan Art Gallery
The story of
The Swedish export of pine to Egypt
In Sweden we don’t notice the pine, it simply just exists next to us. Sweden is covered in forest and has for a long time been defined by forestry. Today, the international lumber trade makes a big part of the Swedish basic industry. The lumber trade with Egypt has been ongoing for many decades. Pine trees from the Nordic hinterland are transformed into a commodity and is send out on a trip to the port of Alexandria. When the commodity arrives to Egyptian land it is no longer only a commodity – it is now an exclusive commodity! In Egypt pine is, among other things, used for housing construction, furniture and wooden frames for canvases. The relation with a material is changing depending on where the material is.
