Stockholm with ice, snow and wind
but also with a bright blue sky

 
Sight seeing on ferry boat through icy water (photo by Margareta)

During the last 100 years vestments were made in this house, the "Ateljé Licium"

Our swedish collegues prepared a splendid programm for our meeting. It concluded with a very good dinner at Margaretas home

Round table at Margareta's house:
Ursula, Dela, Elisabeth and Margaretas husband

Ursula, Mari-Louise, Anne, Margareta

At first we visited the exhibition: Textiles for the soul.
Margareta Ridderstedt and Mari-Louise Franzén explained us this splendid exhibit which they both did set up.
All the textiles in this exhibition have been created by the "Ateljé Licium". It represent the swedish ecclesiastical textile art of the past hundred years down to the present day.
The word Licium means "weaving knot", a knot securing new threads to the old warp. Licium fabricates new textiles, following on from old ones.

Licium was founded in 1904 by Agnes Branting and Mimi Börjesson. Agnes Branting (by the way an aunt of Agnes Geijer), was the renewer of ecclesiastical textile art at the beginning of the 20th century. The workshop was headed by Agnes Branting until her death in 1930. Sofia Widén, Edna Martin and Åsa Bengtsson then took over as Artistic Directors. That post has been held since 1997 by Marie-Louise Sjöblom
In addition to Licium, several other workshops for ecclesiastical textile art were founded in about 1900, namely Handarbetets Vänner (Friends of Textile Art), Ersta Diakonissanstalt, Göteborgs Paramentförening and Libraria. Handarbetets Vanner and Licium merged in 1952, and the workshop is now called HV Licium.

After Lunch we had a look at the installation by the internationally known artist Ann Hamilton. She was invited by the National Swedish Art Council. In her project "aloud" she shows her interest in physical actions that create vocalizations.
Inger Estham thogether with her collegues, showed us the medieval textile exhibition. We were also allowed to visit the storeroom.
A visit to the "HV Licium" followed. We had a look at the conservation department and at the looms, where tapestries still are produced.

It was already 5 o'clock when we came together in the library to continue our studies at the vocabulary project.

To conclude this interesting day, we spent a very nice evening in the very special Restaurant Wärdshuset Gothem, built in 1874, close to Skansen Openair Museum.

Saturday morning we continued to work in the library and Mari-Louise demonstrated the museum's inventory computer program of the historic objects from Historiska Museet.
This day was dedicated to exhibits in other museums. In the Nordiska Museet we enjoyed the works of fashion designer Gunilla Pontén, and also a shoe exhibition.
The Textile Gallery with textiles stored in accesible drawers and also with PC screens gives to interested visitors a wide range of information about each piece of textile.

Our host then offered us the nice possibility to take a ferry to the old town. We visited the Storkyrkan (cathedral in the old town) and its storeroom for vestments. The swedish specialists showed us every drawer and explained its contents.
Finally in the end of this second interesting day, we had the possibility to visit the Royal Army Museum with its richly gold embroidered Royal Coaches, the saddles, the harnesses, the costumes and a special exhibit about Princesses.
We really had a good time in the cold, but sunny Stockholm and we send many warm thanks for everything the swedish collegues did for us. We are grateful having had this opportunity to see their works.