Kristian Häggblom

Exhibition Date

8 May > 8 June 2025

Artist talk

Saturday 7 June 2025, 11AM > 12PM, FREE

Visual Rating 100%

The Linden Projects Space can be accessed via an older lift that is not DDA compliant and requires staff operation. Our team is always available to assist—please let us know if you need support during your visit.

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If you can’t understand it without an explanation, you can’t understand it with an explanation.
– Haruki Murakami 1Q84 Book #3

The world is gripped by an increasing state of hyper-anxiety driven by powerful and seemingly intangible forces that are intensified by political unrest, economic uncertainty, environmental crisis and the bewildering return of Trump. Amid this turmoil, many are left feeling alienated, uncertain, and overwhelmed by the impossible task of balancing work, life, and wellbeing, let alone Spotify playlists.

Some Confused Men documents confused men – myself included – who are often and outwardly open about being somewhat baffled, the work does not criticize but pays homage. Through chaotic, cinema-inspired horizontal scrolls and more contemplative large-format images this exhibition follows two tangential visual journeys – both prophetic and mundane. One to rescue an automobile with Argie and the other to pay respects at a filmmaker’s grave with Ken. The car is a Mitsubishi Mirage. The filmmaker is Yasujirō Ozu. Connections exist, though I couldn’t tell you exactly what they are, I’ll leave that to the audience.

I remain confused.

Dr Kristian Häggblom is an artist, curator, academic, and photobook collector, who works with conceptual documentary and expanded modes of photography that have included and/or combined sound, collected objects, video, text, publishing, performance and commissioned production. His projects explore landscape, psychology, technology and belief systems. He completed his PhD, titled Viewing Platforms, in 2014 (Monash University). He has worked extensively in Japan and undertaken an Australia Council for the Arts artist-in-residence on Suomenlinna island in Finland. His work has been funded and exhibited internationally including exhibitions in Australia, Japan, America, India, Mexico, India and Switzerland. His projects have enabled him to travel to America, South Korea, Malaysia, Kuwait, Doha and Japan and his photographs are held in substantial collections. Häggblom is presently working on a publication to be released by Perimeter Editions. Curatorially, he recently established Speculative Horizons which is a collaboration between Kuwait, Japan and Australia and in 2018 he curated Tsuka: an exhibition of contemporary Japanese photography.

IMAGES > Kristian Häggblom, Nihon: Hole in a Fence, 2006, 104 x 130cm. Courtesy of the artist.
> Kristian Häggblom, Confused Men: Ken-san. Courtesy of the artist