The Cultural Lifestyle of Swedish Textiles
—Astrid Sampe
Sweden has lived through centuries of enduring traditions in art, craft, and textiles. The Swedish Arts and Crafts movement flourished around the 1900s, and was firmly rooted in the domestic craft known as hemslöjd. This arose largely due to the prevalent custom of rural families raising sheep and spinning flax and wool for home use. The surrounding landscapes of forests and lakes instinctively brought the essence of nature into the people’s dwellings, so much so that handicraft has become not merely a technique, but a cultural lifestyle grounded in an innate respect for materials and knowledge nurtured from one generation to the next.
Textile weaving, therefore, has long been an essential skill in Swedish households. It encompasses diverse regional techniques, showcased in finely woven tablecloths, embroidered fabrics, and colorful tapestries that are greatly admired worldwide. This wealthy heritage has recognized Sweden as the pioneer of "Nordic Modern" in the first half of the 20th century.
Until November 15 this year, Setagaya Art Museum presents “Textiles of Sweden: Nature and Home Life in Scandinavian Design.” The grand exhibition features over 200 Swedish textile works and related materials primarily from the mid-20th century onward from the collection of Sweden-based vintage textile collector, Sara Axtelius, alongside pieces from textile museums and family generations involved in cloth production and the textile industry.
Axtelius owns one of the largest archives of Swedish classic fabrics from the 1960s and 1970s. As of this date, she has identified about a hundred textile designers responsible for more than 2,000 fabrics in her collection. She devotes her work to the documentation, care, and cultural preservation of Swedish textiles. She is also an active author of books on retro fabrics.
The opening hall parades an exhilarating display of hanging fabrics in multi-varied themes, colors, and patterns. In the Prologue section, visitors discover the significant women of the early 1900s who greatly impacted the Swedish textile industry—Elsa Gullberg (1886–1984), Estrid Ericson (1894–1981), Lisbet Jobs (1909–1961), and Gocken Jobs (1914-1995). Ericson established the pewter workshop Svenskt Tenn and expanded her business into furniture and textile design. “Elefant/Elephant” (1930s), her delightful Swedish design featuring repeating rows of small stylized white elephants against an olive background, hangs together with architect Josef Frank’s “Primavera” (1920s) and his two classic wooden chairs. Frank became Ericson's in-house designer in 1935. The Jobs sisters were previously ceramicists who turned to textile design after World War II. Lisbet’s “Duvor/Pigeons” (1945) illustrates classic mid-century floral motifs blending with whimsical pigeons.
Eight themes of Swedish textiles—botanicals, fruits, animals, geometry, Japan, everyday life, narratives, and midsummer—span the first section of the exhibition. These motifs reflect reverence for nature and Swedish folk culture. A huge table gathers prismatic fabrics with variegated designs marking the magnitude of modernism from the 20th century. One of the most influential figures who propagated Swedish textile design and fashion was Göta Trägårdh (1904–1984). Her work, “Riviera” (1970), exemplifies the use of plant and flower motifs, as shown by the stylized red and pink flowers, swimming among the vibrant green leaves. The design embodies an organic yet highly energetic quality. Trägårdh produced this fabric during her tenure as the artistic director at the prestigious Swedish textile company, Gamlestaden-Strömma.
An example of a textile with animal designs is Wanja Djanaieff’s “Svan/Swan,” (1968) developed in 1967. She created the modern graphic piece while working at another Swedish textile company, Almedahls. The repetitive pattern of white swans floating against a deep Mediterranean blue background is inspired by folk art. It illustrates a cadenced and austere wallpaper-like layout.
Two striking fabrics in the “Midsummer” corner delineate the theme of summer vacation. In “Sommarlov/Summer Vacation,” designed by Anna-Lena Emdén in 1978, the rolling landscape captures typical Swedish summer scenery with traditional red houses, children fishing and picking flowers, and forest animals like moose. The joyful balance of colors and the rich narrative of Swedish life have made this work a popular showcase at many international touring exhibitions.
Under the same title, “Sommarlov/Summer Vacation” (1978), Ulla Eson Bodin depicts the country wilderness of green grass, white wildflowers, red poppies, yellow butterflies, and tiny ladybugs aligned in rows and columns against strips of blue water. The side borders radiate with emerald ferns and white, umbrella-shaped elderflowers.
During World War II, Swedish designers anticipated a rising need to produce designs domestically, placing their focus on workshops and factories. Textile companies also began setting up internal design departments actively. Nordiska Kompaniet founded the Textile Chamber in 1937 under the leadership of Astrid Sampe (1909–2002), who contributed to the interior design of the Swedish pavilions at the 1937 Paris Exposition and the 1939 New York World's Fair. The second chapter honors other key designers, including Viola Gråsten (1910–1994), Inez Svensson (1932–2005), Sven Fristedt (1940–2025), and Chiqui Mattson (1947– ).
Fristedt is one of Sweden’s most successful textile designers. His multicolored designs were exported worldwide from the 1960s to the 1980s. A former student of Trägårdh, he created numerous innovative patterns for IKEA. "Pärita" (1968) is a notable vintage textile that has been frequently featured in exhibitions representing iconic Scandinavian fabric arts. The work title playfully twists the word for pear (“päron”), echoing the times Fristedt spent working in fruit orchards. The organic geometry of black and red pears flows artistically with a sense of rhythm and motion. Fristedt’s other remarkable piece, "Zebra" (1967), exhibits bold black-and-white diagonal chevron stripes layered with undulating raspberry pink, crisp white, pitch-black, and mustard orange waves. The rippled bands suggest mid-century tones, eliciting a captivating retro feel.
With a touch of Japanese influence, “Nippon” (1967) by Mattson embraces minimalism. A vertical stack of segmented blocks outlines the silhouette of a traditional Japanese paper lamp. Delicately drawn black concentric lines converge toward the center, creating an optical texture. The groundbreaking design was crucial in fusing Nordic and Japanese aesthetics.
In the third section of the exhibition, textiles applied to interior design and fashion complement ceramics by Stig Lindberg and manufacturers Gustavsberg and Rörstrand. These pieces are displayed alongside popular Scandinavian furniture from the Oda Collection in Higashikawa, Hokkaido, featuring outstanding designers Bruno Mathsson and Yngve Ekström.
Also on view are various items by Japanese artist and picture book author Kotone Utsunomiya, who spent a year in Stockholm as an illustrator and textile designer. Before that, she was selected among ten students from Japan and abroad to reinterpret the designs of Josef Frank in the “Ten Textile Talents" initiative launched by Svenskt Tenn in 2018. Utsunomiya’s “The Story of Flowers” series, made up of a cushion, tray, and Christmas glass balls, is particularly fascinating.
It is immensely inspiring to witness the sheer breadth of Swedish craftsmanship in textiles, fashion, furniture, ceramics, and ornaments, and its formidable presence in our daily lives.
Details
“Textiles of Sweden: Nature and Home Life in Scandinavian Design”
Setagaya Art Museum
Until November 15, 2026
Closed Mondays except October 12; Closed on October 13
10:00-18:00
Written by Alma Reyes
