By Katherine Larson
With information and excerpts from memorials (published in Aftenposten) by Ingrid Røynesdal, Director, with Stina Högkvist, Director of Exhibitions & Collections, National Museum, Oslo; and Nina Refseth, Director, Norsk Folkemuseum, Oslo.
Norway’s museum community lost a leading figure in the world of textiles, costume and textile history with the passing of Anne Kjellberg in July of 2024. While her name may not be well known to readers of the Norwegian Textile Letter, her impact on the subject of our shared interest is undeniable.
When I began research for The Woven Coverlets of Norway in 1989, I received a welcoming reception and a helping hand from Anne Kjellberg, who at that time was First Conservator at the Museum of Applied Arts [Kunstindustrimuseet] in Oslo, now part of the National Museum. For my initial research trip I made arrangements to visit museums throughout the country, my first stop being Oslo. Museum professionals are incredibly busy people who receive many requests from a curious public, and with no credentials other than a Norwegian surname and an intense interest in Norwegian textiles, I was unsure of the reception I would receive. I was therefore thrilled when Anne Kjellberg agreed to meet with this unknown entity from America. Welcoming my interest in Norwegian weaving traditions, she granted me access to museum records and offered useful advice on further resources I might want to consult. On several subsequent research trips we renewed our acquaintance, and years later I was extremely grateful when she agreed to undertake a content review of the coverlets manuscript, freely sharing her expertise on Norwegian textile history with me and with future readers of the book. I still have that copy of the manuscript with her cogent comments penciled into the margins, and I am happy to add this recollection as an introduction to the following excerpts from museum professionals who knew her well.
Helgelands Blad, Tuesday, Feb, 28, 1995
Anne Kjellberg worked for both the Norsk Folkemuseum and the National Museum during her long career. As a daughter of the Norsk Folkemuseum’s director, she had a lifelong familiarity with museums. Her early career began in 1971 as a research assistant at that institution, where she advanced to the role of conservator in 1976 after earning a Master’s Degree in Art History. In 1989 Anne accepted a position as First Conservator with the Oslo Museum of Applied Art [Kunstindustrimuseet], now the National Museum. There she was instrumental in its eventual transformation, serving as Acting Director to the new institution from 2006 to 2007. Ingrid Røynesdal, current Director of the National Museum, notes that Anne Kjellberg “became a leading voice who generously shared her knowledge and experience. She taught us the importance of managing a museum collection, our cultural heritage, which encompasses detailed and precise archiving.” Even after retirement in 2015 Anne Kjellberg continued as a consultant, playing “an invaluable role in development of the new museum.”
In retirement Anne Kjellberg also returned to the Norsk Folkemuseum, where Director Nina Refseth recalls that she “became an extremely important advisor. Her phenomenal memory of the museum’s collections was especially impressive. She conveyed this capability in her characteristic way: calm, well prepared, orderly and impartial – she always delivered.”
NTL readers may recognize the names of Anne Kjellberg’s early mentors at the Norsk Folkemuseum, Astrid Bugge and Marta Hoffmann. According to Director Refseth, those two museum professionals “instilled in her a basic understanding of the utmost importance ascribed to artifacts in a museum.” Kjellberg’s extensive publications include articles and books, notably her first book on embroidered “name cloths,” Navneduker [Samplers] in 1985, and Strikking i Norge [Knitting in Norway], which she edited in 1987.
She is also well known for curating several major exhibitions, among them “Queen Maud – Royal Fashion 1896-1938” in 1995 and “Per Spook. Norwegian Fashion Designer in Paris” in 2006.
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Katherine Larson is an Affiliate Assistant Professor, Department of Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle, and the author of The Woven Coverlets of Norway (2001).
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