Invitation to a Press breakfast

In autumn 2026, His Majesty The King’s scholarship competition will conclude with an anniversary exhibition at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm.

The exhibition will bring together works by all 30 scholarship recipients from 2017 to 2026, and marks the end of the ten-year collaboration between the Royal Court of Sweden and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, which began in connection with His Majesty The King’s 70th birthday.

Press breakfast, Friday 9 October
You are invited to a press breakfast at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts before the exhibition. Breakfast will be served in the café from 08:45.
At 09:15, the exhibition group will give a presentation about the exhibition.

Participants:
Helen Karlsson, exhibition and programme coordinator, Royal Academy of Fine Arts
Morgan Gerle, Head of the Public Department, Royal Court of Sweden
Svante H. Tirén, Curator of Collections, Royal Academy of Fine Arts

Catalogue: A catalogue for the exhibition, designed by Sandra Praun, is being produced to present each scholarship recipient through the works assessed by the jury in the year when they were awarded the scholarship.

RSVP by 5 October to: therese.sheats@konstakademien.se

Since the competition began, ten young draughtsmen have been nominated each year by members of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. The nominees’ works have been presented at Gustav III’s Museum of Antiquities and on the Royal Palace’s online platform. From these, three scholarship recipients have been selected every year and awarded a scholarship of SEK 100,000 each.

The anniversary exhibition at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts is the first time all the scholarship recipients have been brought together in a joint presentation. The competition has been open to young draughtsmen working with drawing as a basis for exploring visual interpretation within a number of different areas, including art, architecture, fashion, design, illustration, game development and other related fields.

The scholarship has its roots in a long-standing royal commitment to art and culture. Several generations of the Bernadotte family have worked to support artistic initiatives. King Gustaf VI Adolf was involved in founding the Friends of the Nationalmuseum in 1911, and his support for the museum’s Young Draughtsmen drawing competition has been an important source of inspiration.

This commitment to promoting young artists has also continued with subsequent generations, and now includes His Majesty The King and Prince Carl Philip, who is part of the scholarship jury.

The exhibition showcases the scholarship recipients’ artistic work with a focus on the contemporary, alongside historical material from the collections of King Gustaf VI Adolf and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, linking the past with the present and highlighting the continued relevance of draughtsmanship.

The exhibition: 10 October to 21 November 2026 at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.

Scholarship recipients: Jacob Adler, Vilgot Björkman, Nicole Khadivi, Rebecka Tollens, Isak Smedfors Heldt, Nils Ekman, Rakel Bergman Fröberg, Olivia Pettersson Fleur, Olle Witt, William Jernberg, Lina Göhle, Josef Alexanderson, Simon Persson, Kayo Mpoyi, Gabriel Gabriel Garble, Hanna Holmgren, Hannah Clarkson, Titus Boguslaw, Tomas Lundgren, Kristin Karlsson, Felix Vasquez Aguilera, Sophie Westerlind, Emelie Markgren, Muhammad Ali, Rut Karin Zettergren, André Nordström, Susan Whitlow, Roger Smeby, Love Dahlstedt, Cedric Jacques Yu.

The scholarship fund: The scholarship competition and the exhibition have been supported by Elisabeth and Gustaf Douglas, via the scholarship fund established in 2016 to mark HM The King’s 70th birthday.

Press contact

The Royal Swedish Academy of Fine Arts:
Therese Sheats
070-224 01 47
therese.sheats@konstakademien.se

The Royal Court of Sweden:
Maria Ulander
08-402 60 59
marknad@kungligaslotten.se