Annika Ekdahl

Annika Ekdahl (born 1955 in Stockholm, Sweden) is a textile artist who designs tapestries marrying Renaissance and Baroque practice with more modern techniques, creating large-scale works in her own contemporary style. She has exhibited in Europe and Australia and was the 2013 Nordic Textiles Awardee.

Annika Ekdahl
Born
Annika Ekdahl

1955
Stockholm, Sweden
NationalitySwedish
Occupationartist, weaver, tapestry design
Years active1978-present
Websitewww.annikaekdahl.se

Biography

Annika Ekdahl was born in 1955 in Stockholm, Sweden where she spent her childhood.[1] From 1978, she developed an interest in working with textiles.[2] In the early 1980s, she moved to Blekinge and obtained a master's degree in textile art in 1994 from the HDK School of Design and Crafts of the University of Gothenburg. She was a lecturer at Blekinge Institute of Technology (2002–08) and an adjunct professor at HDK (2008–11).[3][4]

Ekdahl's preferred art form is tapestry design. Having studied Renaissance methods, she employs classical techniques to create large-scale works depicting people and situations from her own life. Her works can take up to one and one-half years to complete as she weaves contemporary imagery of animals, people, places into her narrative designs.[2] She describes the process as much like writing a novel, weaving the story with traditional methods but utilizing a modern approach including digital techniques.[2][5]

Between 2000 and 2006, she worked on five pieces creating a series she called The Baroque Party. The works were included in an exhibition which was displayed in Kalmar Castle, Ronneby Cultural Center, Västerås Art Museum[6] and Dalslands Museum of Art.[3] Each of the individual pieces has now been purchased: the title piece, “The Baroque Party” (2000) belongs to the Röhsska Museum, Gothenburg; “The Wedding In Queens” (2002) is owned by the National Public Arts Council and is exhibited at Uppsala University'; “Darlings” (2003) was bought by the Falkenberg Municipality; “The Theatre In The Park” (2006) was purchased by Värmlands Museum in Karlstad; and “Definitely Gold” (2008) belongs to the Västra Götaland Regional Council.[7] Ekdahl has traveled through Europe studying tapestries, visited Poland to study the world-famous Wawel Castle tapestries in Kraków[8] and worked in Australia[7] where she has exhibited at the Maitland Art Gallery in New South Wales.[9]

In February 2013 at the Abecita Art Museum in Borås, Ekdahl received the Nordic Award in Textiles, an honor that granted her not only a substantial monetary award, but also earned her a visiting professorship at University of Gothenburg.[2] The same year in November, she was awarded the prestigious Prince Eugen Medal for her outstanding tapestries.[10] In 2015 she unveiled the two tapestries she has been making since the award, Follow Me. Shine, which is about discovery and perception and Follow Me. Grow, about growth and development. They were both installed at the University of Oslo in 2015.[11]

References
  1. "Biography". Annika Ekdahl. Stockholm, Sweden. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  2. Walldán, Camilla (20 February 2013). "Textilpris till Annika Ekdahls gobelängvävar" (in Swedish). Sweden: Sveriges radio. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  3. "Annika Ekdahl". HDK - School of Design and Crafts. Gothenburg, Sweden: University of Gothenburg. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  4. "Annika Ekdahl & HDK". Kauno Bienalé. Kaunas, Lithuania: Kauno Bienalé. 19 August 2011.
  5. Martinsson, Anders (20 February 2013). "Annika Ekdahl får årets textilpris Annika Ekdahl får Europas största textilpris för sitt nyskapande" (in Swedish). Göteborg, Sweden: Göteborgs-Posten. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  6. "Annika Ekdahl: Barockfesten" (in Swedish). Västerås Konstmuseum. 2010. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  7. "The Baroque Party (suite)". Annika Ekdahl. Blekinge, Sweden: Annika Ekdahl. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  8. ""Gobelänger" av Annika Ekdahl – pristagare av The Nordic Award in Textiles 2013". Abecita Konstmuseum (in Swedish). Borås, Sweden: Abecita Konstmuseum. 19 January 2014. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  9. "Annika Ekdahl berättar i gobelänger" (in Swedish). Blekinge Läns Tidning. 16 July 2005. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  10. "Annika Ekdahl, textile artist and former student and former visiting professor in textile art at HDK, receives the Prince Eugen Medal for outstanding artistic achievement". City of Gothenburg. 6 November 2013. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  11. Tønnessen, Eva (8 April 2015). "Ny kunst på HiOA" (in Norwegian). Oslo, Norway: Khrono. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
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