Hannah Ryggen and Collaborations in Skåne

 

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Hannah Ryggen, ‘Svan’, 1954, Tapestry, Svenska Tobaks AB, Malmö

Had one of those really great days yesterday – with lost of new input from inspirational exhibitions. Went to both Form/Design Center as well as Moderna Museet in Malmö. My favorites from the day was the newly opened ‘Hannah Ryggen: världen i väven’ (Moderna) as well as the soon to close ‘Den nya kartan’ (Form/Design Center).

A selection of Hannah Ryggen’s tapestries from the 1920s to 1950s showed a motif world that felt as current now in 2015 as when they were woven. The tapestries discussed the injustice and violence of war, a reality that we unfortunately still very much sees today with catastrophic situations such as for example the war in Syria. I found her political awareness and impressive courage to dare to exhibit her critical opinions very inspiring. I am for example impressed by her courage to have the nerve to exhibit pieces such as ‘Etiopia’ at the World Expo in Paris 1937. In one of the quotes provided in the exhibition Hannah Ryggen expresses her critic towards Italy’s attack towards Ethiopia, through the making of this tapestry. The weave shows Mussolini’s head being spared with an arrow, something that, at that time, must have been both radical as well as controversial.

‘Hannah Ryggen’ is defiantly an exhibition to see.

‘Den nya kartan’ provided a nice introduction to producers and designers within Skåne region through a collection of newly produced products sprung from the created collaborations.
Reference picture: Sandström, S. (1991) Forgtdals konstlexikon, Vol:13, p.10.

Enjoy 🙂