In an effort to “democratize art and make it available to everyone,” furniture maker Ikea has teamed up with camera manufacturer Hasselblad and seven professional photographers to create an exclusive collection of photographic prints that will soon be available for purchase in Ikea stores.
In a press release announcing the partnership, Ikea’s head of design, Marcus Engman, said, “Photography is a vital way to express yourself and showcase the world from your perspective. In this day and age with social media, this form of expression and art has become even more popular, creating a whole new group of everyday photographers. With this collection of images, both Ikea and Hasselblad aim to inspire people to continue capturing the world while offering stunning photographs to those looking to make their home unique.”
Hasselblad marketing manager Bronius Rudnickas followed up these sentiments, adding, “We want to share our love and passion of photography with the world and give a wider audience the chance to discover new art created by Hasselblad photographers. This collaboration is a way to inspire people by bringing world class photography into their everyday life. Each image was hand selected for its beauty, composition, and aesthetics so that they add a level of emotion to your home.”
In total, there will be eight prints in the collection from the Hasselblad Master Award catalog. The photographs being used for the prints come from seven photographers based all around the globe: Dmitry Ageev, Lars van de Goor, Hans Strand, Bára Prášilová, Ali Rajabi, Tom D. Jones, and Joachim Schmeisser.
It might seem to be an unusual partnership, but both companies were founded and are headquartered in Sweden, so it might not be as chance an encounter as it may seem. When you consider a large section of its stores is devoted to prints and frames, and Ikea releases an annual collection of limited-edition prints by various artists, the partnership makes sense.
Ikea is known for partnering with various companies, particularly in the furniture design space, but it seems to be diversifying: It recently announced it’s teaming up with Sonos on a potential audio device.
The Norhassel collection is expected to be in all Ikea stores starting in August.
We’ve reached out to Hasselblad to ask about the sizing and pricing of prints, and will update this article accordingly.
