Vävutbyte Ungern-Sverige

Sommaren 2014 blev Kerstin Askert och Mia Svalönge inbjudna till Ungern för att delta i Weavers Competition and Conference i Heves. Här nedan kan du läsa en text (på engelska) om evenemanget och svenskarnas besök. Texten är skriven av Vanda Illés, en av arrangörerna bakom konferensen.

Swedish guests at the Weavers Competition and Conference in Heves

The 20th National Weaving Competition and Conference is a joint project of the Hungarian Heritage House, a national institute founded with the aim of preserving and promoting the folklore of the Carpathian basin and the Hevesi Folkart and Handicraft Cooperative and the local government of Heves. Among the competitors one can find the most noted Hungarian weavers both from home and across the borders. A basic requirement of the competition was that the inspiration of the entered works of art is taken from the homespun folk textile traditions.

The competition was accompanied by a professional conference which aimed at presenting today's weaving culture and the creative works in the field of modern clothing and interior design based on the homespun folk traditions.

The presentations touched upon the following topics:

- the original artifacts of traditional peasant culture were discussed by ethnographers,

- contemporary artworks inspired by folklore were presented by crafts and arts artists,

- the differences in style and approach were presented by our invited guests from Sweden.

It has become a tradition during these conferences to invite artists from abroad. This year the guest country was Sweden. The presentations of the guests arriving from far away are always followed with enthusiasm by the Hungarian participants as they are eager to learn from the foreign approaches and experiences. This was especially the case with the Swedish guests as Sweden's weaving culture is particularly rich.

The presentation by textile artist Kerstin Ackert and Mia Svalönge was instructive from many aspects. It was really interesting to see how mother and daughter interpret tradition, how generational differences play out in the different setting of a foreign country and how the two generations utilize each other's approaches. This was particularly striking throughout more informal discussions and afternoon workshops.

Kerstin's presentation was truly unique for us because during the events organized for crafts and arts artists one rarely hears about the study of colours. It was nicely presented to us illustrated with actual woven materials.

Mia, belonging to the younger generation, gave us her own brand presentation. The most exciting part of her presentation was the story of how the general public received her new approach and how she managed to succeed with it. In Hungary the young artists are just fighting their own fights and are striving to pass on our rich folk traditions. Her presentation gave us strength to continue with that.

I would like to thank Andreas Sohlberg who helped us inviting the two talented textile artists to Hungary and thus to let us to get to know them Many thanks to Kerstin and Mia as well for accepting our invitation.

We hope that we will have the chance to welcome them again in the future! We already have ideas for our future cooperation.

Vanda Illés, Budapest, October the 2nd, 2014