MÄRTA MÅÅS-FJETTERSTRÖM 90 YEARS
3 October 2009–6 January 2010
With marvellous rugs and woven textiles from floor to ceiling, Liljevalchs konsthall presents the weaving studio Märta Måås-Fjetterström's production. Viewers will encounter a generous selection of 150 unique works, from 1919 to 2009, created by the most famous names in textile art and, in recent years, by the younger generation of Swedish contemporary artists as well as designers and architects. In brief, Märta flies again!
Liljevalchs' major exhibition Märta Flies Again! is a journey from the past to the present in the company of MMF, which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year. Part of Swedish cultural heritage, the Scanian weaving studio is an internationally acclaimed business that is constantly renewing itself. The exhibition invites the audience to an auspicious meeting of powerful artistic vision and craftsmanship of the highest order.
Naturally, the exhibition will present Märta Måås-Fjetterström's own artistic development, represented by compositions from 1901 to 1941, some of which are displayed in period settings with furniture created by her friend and colleague, Carl Malmsten. The exhibition also focuses on Märta's successors - Barbro Nilsson, Marianne Richter, Kaisa Melanton and others whose artistry has contributed to a heightened wealth of colours and an exciting development of the idiom of weaving.
Several of Sweden's best-known contemporary artists will be prominently featured in the exhibition. Karin Mamma Andersson, Ernst Billgren, Marie-Louise Ekman, Charlotte Gyllenhammar, Maria Miesenberger and Jockum Nordström are some of the artists who have created textile works for MMF.
Liljevalchs will also premiere four "remixes" of one of Märta's classic rugs, Bruna Heden from 1931. The new versions are composed by the design group Front, the architects Claesson Koivisto Rune, and the designers Mats Theselius and Jonas Bohlin.
Also presented is MMF's "Textile of the Year 2009" - Kustlandskap by HM Queen Margrethe of Denmark.
Experiencing the exhibition, visitors will encounter themes from Märta Måås-Fjetterström's life and work - international impulses and contacts and not least the inspiration from nature. Here it is also possible to discover how many of MMF's innovators have the same areas as their starting point.
For the exhibition, a number of the weaving studio's commissioned works for institutions and companies have been borrowed, including: the Swedish Government Offices, the Stockholm Concert Hall, the Nationalmuseum Stockholm, and the Church of Sweden. Many of the works that Liljevalchs presents to its audience are also included in the following collections: the Albert & Victoria Museum, London; the Louvre, Paris; the Metropolitan Museum, New York; and the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt.
Among the exhibition's many works and artists, the handicraft is omnipresent - the dyeing of yarn and the work at looms. The large loom's rhythmical throbbing can be heard in the galleries and visitors can see how a rug is being woven on site during the course of the exhibition.
One of the Sculpture Hall's walls has been transformed into a "yarn wall", covered with vibrant colours from thousands of yarn balls from MMF's own dyeing laboratory.
And, of course, in the middle of the exhibition hovers a magic carpet in finest flatweave.
Exhibition curators: Angelica Persson, CEO of MMF and Mårten Castenfors, Director of Liljevalchs konsthall.
Exhibition catalogue: The exhibition is accompanied by a richly illustrated publication in Swedish and English with a preface by the Director of Liljevalchs konsthall, Mårten Castenfors and with essays by Anette Granlund, Bo Nilsson, Mailis Stensman and Angelica Persson, CEO of MMF. Designed by Ehrling Braghfors, the book is available for purchase at Liljevalchs' shop. Price: 300 SEK.
Guided tours twice a day: The exhibition will be presented every day, starting on 6 October (Tue-Sun) by Liljevalchs' gallery hosts, at 12:15 and 14:30. No pre-booking required.
Short films on Märta Måås-Fjetterström and Barbro Nilsson. Screened continuously in the Sculpture Hall.
See how a rug is woven: At the far end in the major gallery, visitors can learn how a rug is woven. One of MMF's expert weavers will work every day in the large loom. The rug being woven is the winning entry in the competition "My Märta Rug". See below
The winning entry in the competition "My Märta Rug" is being woven: The competition was announced by Liljevalchs and MMF a year ago to second-graders in the Stockholm area. The winner is Zakaria Ali Liban and he is now a third-grader at the Husbygård School. Congratulations, Zakaria!
Refreshments at Kafé Båstad: At Kafé Båstad in the Sculpture Hall, coffee and other refreshments and snacks, including our specially commissioned punsch roll ("dammsugare").
More about Märta's rugs: www.liljevalchs.stockholm.se
More about the company MMF, its history and today's weaving studio: www.mmf.se