Hello! I have limited, numbered and signed prints for sale at my website https://ceciliaflume.se/sale/
I prefer pickup in Stockholm, but I can mail if buyer pays for packaging and shipping. Email or DM me if you're interested! 🌞
My ’Chaekgeori’ in between Sweden and Korea.
Swedish kurbits, fika, Stig Lindberg meets buddhist patterns, Korean ceramics, tassel and ginko. In the vase is a humble bouquet made from apple blossom and barley. Spring, summer and fall.
On May 7–8, the conference on transnational adoption, "Disrupted Histories, Contested Futures: Korean Adoption, Politics, and Activism in Europe", was held in Lund, organised by Prof. Youngeun Koo. One of my drawings was used to promote and illustrate the conference.
The participants demonstrated how researchers, activists have worked for decades to foreground critical perspectives on adoption. Many of the discussions throughout the conference focused on the work ahead, whether the slow and difficult pursuit of truth, justice, and reconciliation can appear utopian in today’s unstable political climate. There were conversations about both hope and burnout. And even though low expectations regarding political change for adoptees and our first families were often expressed, the conference itself became a manifestation of how the work of researchers and activists continues to create meaningful resonance, solidarity and movement.
Adoptees who also hold adoption-critical perspectives have grown older. Old enough that younger generations now exist following us, some of whom were also present in the audience at the conference. I now represent an older generation of adoptees, while the younger generation increasingly includes the children of adoptees themselves.
At the opening of the exhibition Fragments of Adoption, curated by Anna Jin Hwa Borstam, a group exhibition shown in connection with the conference, where my paintings are exhibited, I listened to a few voices of adoptees’ children. What surprised me was that they, too, expressed a sense of “us”, suggesting that the children of adoptees are also searching for their parents’ roots. Transnational adoption does not end simply because the formal practice may eventually cease. The children, and perhaps even grandchildren, of adoptees carry adoption with them through similar questions and emotions concerning culture, identity, and origin, like their adopted parents. The need for research, knowledge, and reckoning in relation to adoption is therefore far from over. The work, the discussions, and the criticism will continue, and this conference was likely only the first of many of its kind.
Missa inte vår pågående utställning Fragments of Adoption med konstnärerna Cecilia Flumé, Agnes Hjalmarsson och Alva Qi Törnqvist.
Öppettider: torsdag–söndag kl. 13–17
Utställningen pågår till och med 24 maj.
Ett stort varmt tack till alla besökare som deltog på vårt vernissage, samt till personal, volontärer, Sigge, Andy, Annelie, Catarina, Behnaz, Tuva och Olof, för att nämna några. Det största tack också till konstnärerna @angryemi , @agneshjalart@thornequest och till er som deltog i uppläsningen och presentationen och samt skrev verktexter till konstnärerna: Youngeun, Caroline Seung-Hwa @seunghwashin och Johanna @johannakimandersson
Sist men inte minst: ett stort tack till medkuratorerna Moho House Alternative Space @moho_house för ert koreanska perspektiv på utställningen och verktext om Cecilia Flumés verk.
Det betydde så mycket att få samlas som ett intergenerationellt community om internationell adoption – för första gången i Sverige utifrån ett bildkonstperspektiv!
Jag som curator/intendent på Krognoshuset @jin_hwa_borstam kommer aldrig glömma denna dag tillsammans med er <3
Missa inte heller att Lunds universitets största konferens om adoption, organiserad av Youngeun Koo @youngeun_koo , startar idag 7 maj - med keynote föreläsning av Eleana Kim. Vi har haft glädjen att samverka med konferensen.
På onsdag 13/5 kl. 17–19 i samverkan med Krognoshuset håller AMBER EONS workshop här med @danieljeremiahp
Mer information finns i Instagram-inlägget i vår grid samt hemsida.
Sign-up via email: [email protected] eller DM @ambereons .
Missa verkligen inte deras publika projekt som pågår i maj och juni här i Skåne!
Vi ses! Mer dokumentation från utställningen kommer snart.
Poster och grafisk form: Agnes Hjalmarsson
Another TV series about male friendship?
No, thank you, I said. Haven’t we seen that a million times already?
I was wrong. The friendship portrayed in this show is deeply refreshing, heartfelt, tender and necessary. Frankly, it feels tragic to say that this is the first time I’ve seen men like this on TV.
The show is hyper-aware of stereotypical narratives about both men and women. Watch beyond the first two episodes. They flip the script. The story is built around a typical crime investigation, which is the least interesting part. What matters is what unfolds in between: ageing men, loneliness, insecurity, and genuine friendship. Some of the most touching portrayals of men I’ve seen on television.
I don’t think the word masculinity is mentioned, but it’s obvious that it lingers as a suffocating expectation. Like Adolescence, this series has the potential to spark urgent conversations about masculinity. But the men it portrays are very different. There is no aggression, instead, it dares to show vulnerability and fragility.
Have all your male friends watch this.
I am part of a group exhibition together with Agnes Hjalmarsson @agneshjalart and Alva Qi Törnqvist, @thornequest curated by Alternative Space Moho House @moho_house , Daegu, and Jin Hwa Borstam @jin_hwa_borstam . The exhibition is held at Krognoshuset, Lund and runs from 18 April to 24 May.
In connection with the exhibition’s theme, a research conference on adoption will take place at Lund University on 7–8 May. Please see the university’s website for further information.
Happy new year dear friends!! ✨2025 was a year of changing pace. During the first half of the year, I did my best to bring my doctoral project to completion. The most challenging, and at the same time most rewarding thing I have ever done. It already feels like several years have passed since I was a wreck, trying to decide whether the graphic novel was ready to go to print. It became a dissertation, in fact three printed books, and I crossed the finish line with enormous gratitude toward the many people who helped me along the way.
During the project, I hit something like a creative wall. My painting and writing hand simply isn’t working right now. I’ve tried not to stress too much about it. I delivered what I needed to deliver, and over the summer I was blissfully, almost absurdly free. I enjoyed lying on the sofa playing the amazing Death Stranding 2, completely unburdened.
In the autumn, Gabi and I travelled to South Korea, with a detour to Japan, and were away for a month. We walked until our legs gave up and ate the same food, yet he lost two kilos and I gained two. We spent time with my Korean family, who took such good care of us. My sister surprised me with a cake that was itself a small artwork, celebrating my doctoral degree. My Korean family has cheered me on from that side of the world, and I was deeply moved by their congratulations and thoughtfulness. ♥️
In Japan, we met up with Gianmarco, who fell so completely in love with the country that he decided to stay some extra months. For both Gianmarco and Gabi, it was their first visit to Japan, and through them I was able to relive that feeling of encountering Japanese ingenuity with fresh eyes. All those magical discoveries. It was lovely and cute to see.
Late autumn and winter have been slow and restless. In the coming spring, I will be applying for a postdoc in artistic research, and I feel a great deal of worry and stress about what will happen if it doesn’t work out. I will do my best, but what 2026 will bring and where I will be, remains a big question mark for me.
Thank you all for being here with me, and with hope for a bright and creative 2026, the Year of the Fire Horse. 🔥
Happy New Year, friends! Time to sum up the best films I watched in 2025! 🌟
The year started with almost no time for films, but after June things slowed down and I finally had space to watch more. I reached my goal of 100 films and ended up at 109.
As with last year, I don’t really have a clear 5/5. Because of that, I want to include one important honourable mention: a TV series. I rarely think series are good, but this year one stood out far above anything else I watched.
Adolescence completely blew me away. Dark, complex, layered, and incredibly well written, with strong performances across the board. It takes on toxic masculinity, violence, gender roles, and parental responsibility in a way that feels urgent, real, and relevant. One of the best series I’ve watched.
With that detour out of the way, here are my favourites from the year (all solid 4/5s):
One Battle After Another Black Dog Better Man (2024) No Other Choice
Other mentions: Sinners, Bird (2024), Sorry Baby, Warfare, Eddington
🍿Do you agree? What did I miss?
Lucia is a Swedish tradition celebrated on 13 December, marking the arrival of light during the darkest part of the year. The modern form of the celebration became widespread in the early 20th century. It blends the Christian story of Saint Lucy with older Nordic midwinter beliefs.
When I grew up, participating in a Lucia performance was more or less mandatory for many Swedish children. And traditionally, though not accurately, Lucia was often imagined as blond and blue-eyed, which meant the celebration became closely tied to a normative (white) beauty ideal.
As a child I was forced to take part in Lucia against my will, and some of that discomfort likely came from not fitting the image of the graceful blond Lucia. Now as an adult, however, watching a professional choir perform Lucia songs in a church has become my favourite Christmas tradition, even if I often think back on how much I used to dread the celebration as a child.
As seen here, watching the annual Lucia broadcast on TV in the morning is also part of the tradition. 😉 Wishing you all a cozy and candle-lit Lucia evening! 🕯️
I took a four week painting course from Koreanskt Kulturcenter. Led by brilliant Jihyun Kim @rdv_des_etoiles , this was a meditative and beginner friendly experience for anyone interested in Korean traditional painting. @kculture.sweden offers a variety of classes throughout the year. Keep an eye open on their website for future painting courses!
