He is one of this year's design scholarship recipients

Who are you and what do you do besides Beckman's Evening School?

"My name is Oscar Hagberg and I am a multidisciplinary artist who works as a graphic designer, but I also work with projects as art director, photographer and filmmaker. Projects vary from exhibitions, publications, visual arts and video works. Many of the projects I have been involved in and co-creators of have a societal focus and have been shown both in Sweden and internationally. I have previously studied political science, sociology and international relations.

Why did you apply for evening school?

"I saw Kvällsskolan as a chance to see what Beckmans is like as a school and to meet teachers and students in the creation as a self-taught creative person and to share it with others in a school environment.

"Evening school is a great place to meet people, to create at a fast pace, and try many different things at the same time. You discover new networks, contacts and get to collaborate with other classmates. A lot has been on Google Meets during the year due to corona, which has meant that we have not been as much in the classrooms as we would like, but to get the chance to produce everything from animations to making completely idea-based presentations and getting to test ideas on others is very rewarding. Even meeting others in their processes and being inspired by each other, I think is important for growing.

How are the teachers?

"We have had teachers like Minna Floss who is an incredibly talented animator and to have the opportunity to take part in her knowledge and lessons has been inspiring. The Augmented Reality lessons with Jonas Johansson have also been fantastic and have opened up other ways to look at visual communication.

What is visual communication to you?

"Visual communication can be expressed in many different ways, but for me personally, I will always want to tie it to human rights and democracy," he said. For me, it is people's voices that should be the center of attention and there I would like to be a person who can be involved in highlighting them.

"In many of the assignments we have received at Kvällsskolan, I have tried to weave in my own interests and ongoing projects, while further developing thought processes that I have. For me, it's about connecting what I do to a story or connecting with social issues. I think there is a great responsibility on the part of the young generation to be involved in shaping the society we want together.

Can you give an example?

"A project I am involved in is called I am 2015, a popular movement that started on March 3, 2020 by Atoosa Farahmand, where she wrote a post in response to how we talk about people fleeing and immigrants in Sweden. Her post reached hundreds of thousands and was reported on in news both in Sweden and internationally. During #jagär2015 people shared their stories on social media, over 1,300 people chose to pass their stories on to Atoosa as well. These 1,300 stories have been submitted to parliament and also became a live performance on March 3, 2021, a year after the start, when she read stories from #jagär2015 on Facebook for eight hours. Atoosa and I created this live perfomance all by ourselves, I stood for art direction and filming. In total, we reached over 20K views.

"To this I linked a task we were given during the autumn at Kvällsskolan that was to create a campaign that didn't feel like advertising. I chose to interpret different activists, including Greta Thunberg. Because I felt that the language and the way I used images and typography became exciting, I chose to use it when designing the posters for #jagär2015 live performance. Through the posters, we were able to engage more people in different parts of Sweden because they could print the posters and spread the city. The images in the poster are a collaboration with the Instagram account @now_you_see_me_moria and are taken by people living in the refugee camp in Moria, Greece.

What do you take with you from evening school?

"To be able to share in other creative people's knowledge and teachers who are really passionate about their subject is something I will really take with me. I feel like I'm growing the more experiences I get and I've brought new tools and lessons about what visual communication can be. In addition, Kvällsskolan has made me understand how important creation is to me and reminded me how many different ways I can use the creative to express myself.

What's next for you?

"I am currently applying to Beckmans for the three-year programme, VK 180 credits, and I can really bring a lot of the knowledge I have gained during the year into my work tests. Otherwise, I am currently working with the Children and Youth Film Festival BUFF and their graphic identity and am preparing for the third exhibition for the project Ask Me instead, which will be exhibited at Hammarkullen Konsthall this autumn.

This is what you do if you want to apply for the Design Scholarship 2023

The design scholarship covers the cost of Beckmans Evening School and can be applied for by those who apply to the Evening School. The deadline for applications is 30 June 2023 and notification of the scholarship will be given shortly thereafter. Read more here