The Thinking Hand
Ten years of the scholarship competition The Thinking Hand has come to an end. A jubilee exhibition will open in October 2026 featuring the artists and scholarship recipients.
Tenth anniversary autumn 2026
An exhibition is planned for autumn 2026, 10 October–21 November, at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, featuring the 30 artists who by then will have been awarded The Thinking Hand scholarship between 2017 and 2026. This marks the end of the scholarship competition, which was first established to commemorate His Majesty the King’s 70th birthday in 2016.
The Thinking Hand was a scholarship competition for young draftspeople, and a collaboration between the Royal Court and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts.
The competition was open to young draftspeople working with visual interpretation within art, architecture, fashion, design, illustration, games development or other related fields. The nominees entries were displayed in a digital exhibition, arranged by The Royal Court.
Each year, three of the nominees received scholarships of SEK 100,000. The aim was to recognise specific knowledge and the interaction between eye and hand, in order to develop thoughts about visual interpretation and to enhance its status.
The Royal Academy of Fine Arts was founded at the Royal Palace of Stockholm in 1735, with the aim of supporting trainee painters, sculptors and architects. More than 280 years later, this aim lives on in the form of the new scholarship fund.
The fund was established on The King's birthday in 2016 by Elisabeth and Gustaf Douglas to support young professionals who work with draftsmanship.
The King is seen at the opening of the 2017 exhibition. Photo: Sanna Argus Tirén
The scholarship recipients of 2022, Simon Persson, Kayo Mpoyi and Gabriel Gabriel Garble, at the scholarship award in Gustav III's Museum of Antiquities at the Royal palace. Photo: Pontus Lundahl/TT
Crown prince Gustaf (VI) Adolf with his uncle prince Eugen, one of Swedens most talented landscape artist of the time. Photo from the Bernadotte Library
In the Bernadotte Family, each generation has shown a commitment to culture and a desire to support those who work with art. We wish to wish to make special mention of Gustaf VI Adolf, a founding member of the Friends of the National Museum in 1911 and whose many years of support for the National Museum's drawing competition 'Young Draftsmen' has been a source of inspiration for the drawing competition 'The Thinking Hand'. Using his position to bring attention to, aid and support young artists was a matter of course for the former king, as it is for our current King and his son Prince Carl Philip, who has served on the jury for the scholarship competition since its inception in 2017.
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