By Mary Erickson
Gunvor Johansson
As with most weaving classes, I tend to focus on weaving and finishing the project. So I was somewhat reluctant to be “pulled away” from the loom to go on an excursion. As it turned out, an invitation such as this gave me a rare opportunity for an understanding of place and history of weaving that I could not have experienced on my own.
Gunvor invited us to view an exhibit of her work called “HISTORICAL THREADS : Scanian Art Weavery & Church Textiles” at the Bosjökloster Castle and Gardens. She and her husband both drove cars to transport us and, as we traveled through the countryside, we passed farmsteads and field after field of crops, which gave us a sense of the landscape.
Bosjökloster originally was a Benedictine abbey, founded in 1080, and remained so until the Reformation. Today the site is privately owned and open to the public. Gunvor’s weavings were displayed in two rooms of the Bosjökloster Castle. The extensive exhibit included traditional weave structures we had been studying and liturgical weaving.
The liturgical textiles on display were examples of Gunvor’s work, designed and created through a business she co-owns, Kyrkotextil i Syd (Church Textiles in the South). Below are examples of Gunvor’s beautiful liturgical textiles.
Janis Aune inspects a beautiful robe.
More information and images can be found at: www.kyrkotextilisyd.com.