Annika Ekdahl
{{Short description|Swedish textile artist (born 1955)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Annika Ekdahl
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_name = Annika Ekdahl
| birth_date = 1955
| birth_place = Stockholm, Sweden
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Swedish
| other_names =
| occupation = artist, weaver, tapestry design
| years_active = 1978-present
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| website = {{URL|http://www.annikaekdahl.se/}}
}}
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.
Biography
Annika Ekdahl was born in 1955 in Stockholm, Sweden where she spent her childhood.{{cite web|title=Biography|url=http://www.annikaekdahl.se/biography/|website=Annika Ekdahl|accessdate=27 July 2015|location=Stockholm, Sweden|archive-date=15 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015063655/http://www.annikaekdahl.se/biography/|url-status=dead}} From 1978, she developed an interest in working with textiles.{{cite news|last1=Walldán|first1=Camilla|title=Textilpris till Annika Ekdahls gobelängvävar|url=http://sverigesradio.se/sida/artikel.aspx?programid=95&artikel=5449840|accessdate=27 July 2015|publisher=Sveriges radio|date=20 February 2013|location=Sweden|language=Swedish}} 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).{{cite web|title=Annika Ekdahl|url=http://www.hdk.gu.se/en/personal/annika-ekdahl|website=HDK - School of Design and Crafts|publisher=University of Gothenburg|accessdate=27 July 2015|location=Gothenburg, Sweden|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304191910/http://www.hdk.gu.se/en/personal/annika-ekdahl|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Annika Ekdahl & HDK|url=http://www.bienale.lt/2011/?p=664&lang=en|website=Kauno Bienalé|location=Kaunas, Lithuania|date=19 August 2011}}
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. She describes the process as much like writing a novel, weaving the story with traditional methods but utilizing a modern approach including digital techniques.{{cite news|last1=Martinsson|first1=Anders|title=Annika Ekdahl får årets textilpris Annika Ekdahl får Europas största textilpris för sitt nyskapande|url=http://www.gp.se/kulturnoje/1.1320926-annika-ekdahl-far-arets-textilpris|publisher=Göteborgs-Posten|accessdate=27 July 2015|location=Göteborg, Sweden|language=Swedish|date=20 February 2013}}
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{{cite web|url=http://vasteraskonstmuseum.se/utstallningar/exib/annika-ekdahl-barockfesten/|title=Annika Ekdahl: Barockfesten|publisher=Västerås Konstmuseum|year=2010|accessdate=27 July 2015 |language=Swedish}} and Dalslands Museum of Art. 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 {{Interlanguage link multi|Värmlands Museum|sv}} in Karlstad; and “Definitely Gold” (2008) belongs to the Västra Götaland Regional Council.{{cite web|title=The Baroque Party (suite)|url=http://www.annikaekdahl.se/the-baroque-party-suite/|website=Annika Ekdahl|accessdate=27 July 2015|location=Blekinge, Sweden|archive-date=15 October 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015063943/http://www.annikaekdahl.se/the-baroque-party-suite/|url-status=dead}} Ekdahl has traveled through Europe studying tapestries, visited Poland to study the world-famous Wawel Castle tapestries in Kraków{{cite web|title="Gobelänger" av Annika Ekdahl – pristagare av The Nordic Award in Textiles 2013|url=http://www.abecitakonst.se/gobelanger-av-annika-ekdahl/|website=Abecita Konstmuseum|accessdate=27 July 2015|location=Borås, Sweden|language=Swedish|date=19 January 2014}} and worked in Australia where she has exhibited at the Maitland Art Gallery in New South Wales.{{cite web|url=http://www.blt.se/kultur-noje/annika-ekdahl-berattar-i-gobelanger/|title=Annika Ekdahl berättar i gobelänger |publisher=Blekinge Läns Tidning|date=16 July 2005|accessdate=27 July 2015|language=Swedish}}
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. The same year in November, she was awarded the prestigious Prince Eugen Medal for her outstanding tapestries.{{cite web|url=http://www.hdk.gu.se/en/nyheter/2013/annika-ekdahl-receives-prince-eugen-medal-outstanding-artistic-achievement|title=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|publisher=City of Gothenburg|date=6 November 2013|accessdate=27 July 2015|language=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304134103/http://www.hdk.gu.se/en/nyheter/2013/annika-ekdahl-receives-prince-eugen-medal-outstanding-artistic-achievement|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=dead}} 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.{{cite news|last1=Tønnessen|first1=Eva|title=Ny kunst på HiOA|url=http://khrono.no/campus/2015/04/ekdahl-i-p32|accessdate=27 July 2015|publisher=Khrono|date=8 April 2015|location=Oslo, Norway|language=Norwegian}}
References
{{Reflist|30em}}
External links
- [http://www.annikaekdahl.se/ Annika Ekdahl's website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228210930/https://www.annikaekdahl.se/ |date=28 February 2021 }} with illustrations of her work
{{Authority control (arts)|country=SV}}
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Category:Swedish textile artists
Category:Recipients of the Prince Eugen Medal
Category:Swedish women artists