New expressions and new times
The velvet jungle in the exhibition was created in collaboration with Handarbetets Vänner 1973–1975 and is one of twelve jungle sculptures that Agneta Flock together with others, including seamstresses and trainees, created over a period of seven years, between the years 1968–1975. Since then, the velvet jungles have criss-crossed the globe and been shown in exhibitions from São Paulo, Dakar and New York to Budapest and Paris. At the same time, the velvet jungle is a seed of its time. The 1960s and 1970s were innovative decades for Swedish art; the traditional concepts of art were put to rest. During this period, several of the building-related public works, as well as the new art produced at the art schools, were inspired by experimentation and playfulness. The creative liberation not only characterized the expressions but also how artists were able to express themselves with greater freedom by reassessing techniques, the rules of the crafts and the conventions of the materials. Through her velvet jungles, Agneta Flock wanted to create an experience of warmth and humour, and she believed that only the textile material provided that possibility. The velvet jungle invites the audience to a game through the three-dimensional form spreading out and creating shadow play, and with sensuous materials envelops the viewer in the vegetation of the jungle.
Det skall växa – Sammetsdjungel also emerged in an important and formative time for textile art in Sweden; then an art field not so visible on the art scene, and an art field dominated by women. Art in textiles gained a higher status in Sweden during the 1970s, partly because more artists actively and often collectively worked to elevate textiles in imagery and were interested in exploring the distinctive forms of expression of textile techniques in contemporary art; partly because The Artists’ Association of Sweden (Konstnärernas Riksorganisation, KRO), for the first time gave textile artists the same membership status as other artists. The question of equality between the sexes were highly topical in society at large, which, among other things, was expressed in the introduction of parents’ insurance and the new Swedish Abortion Act. The UN designated the year 1975 as International Women’s Year and a few years earlier, the Swedish feminist organization Group 8 launched the slogan: “The private is political”.
The artists Sandra Ikse and Gunwor Nordström, whose works are included in the exhibition, were two of the initiators of Verkligheten sätter spår, 7 textilkonstnärer visar bilder (Reality leaves a mark, 7 textile artists show images). The exhibition was shown at the Röhsska Museum of Design and Craft in Gothenburg in the autumn of 1975, broke attendance records at Kulturhuset in Stockholm in 1976 and also took place outside the walls of the establishment by being shown in workplaces and libraries around Sweden. Aiming to counteract the hierarchies in the art world and in society at large, the artists sought ways to create direct contact with visitors and new groups outside the art spaces. The artists also moved their studios into the exhibition space to personally meet the visitors and demystify the artistic work.
In this exhibition, it is just the other way round; the art you usually can experience in many thousands of public workplaces throughout the country has moved into our exhibition space to explore what the expression of textile art means in our shared public spaces. But like the artists of the 1970s, the artist Sarai Alvarez Riveros moves into the exhibition spaces with her work Den Sociala Väven (The Social Fabric) (2022), a work that usually takes place in the urban space, on the sidewalk or during festivals, where passers-by are invited to make a stop and embroider for a while with the artist. On some occasions during the exhibition period, the work will develop further and you can take part in creating it.
The desire to communicate through the special expressiveness of textiles, not least with needle and thread, is palpable in several ways. Esse McChesney’s embroidery Mastektomi (Mastectomy) (2020) is a new acquisition to the collection and depicts the scars of a gender-affirming operation that makes the abdomen appear more masculine. The meticulous, time-consuming embroidery clashes with strict body norms and brings to mind the long care queues, which make people torn between dreams, hope and despair. Here, McChesney is in dialogue with several other works. We think, for example, of Kaisa Melanton’s drawings with embroidery needle, Örngott för drömmar II (Pillowcase for dreams II) (1988), previously placed at the National Institute of Economic Research in Stockholm, and the artist Moki Cherry’s portrait-like applications Camouflage, Chefen (The Boss) and Kärno-Belle from the 1980s, which previously hung at the Swedish Prison and Probation Service. Cherry created the motifs in a time marked by the Cold War and the Chernobyl disaster. All the artists have moved the positions within the textile art field in their own way; these changes developed out of various needs to expand the visual language beyond the usual framework. Like the other works, Karin Bäckström’s Mackapär of Imaginary Spaces (2021) is a kind of diary account. The work consists of a large-scale macramé, created through collected materials from residents of Geneva and made together with the musician Jon Perman during an artist residency in the city. Elisabeth Eriksson also often works with embroidery on recycled textiles such as sheets, towels and clothes, and she is represented in the exhibition with the work Vad stirrar du på (What are you staring at) (2003).
