Anna Olsson is weaving for freedom, hope and human rights

When Anna Olsson learnt to weave “it was like stepping into an eternal love”, the artist tells us. A process that allows all of the pictures that flow through her head to come into their expression in a “calming” and deliberate way, her woven works often take weeks to craft. “Just the working hours itself does something to the expression” she says. “Everyone understands that there is a lot of work behind every weave and it strengthens what I want to say. Weaving is my way of talking, my language. I weave because I want to tell, testify, get out of what I think is wrong and give hope and comfort.”

Alongside her practice Anna has worked with young people at youth detention centres as well as clinics helping child refugees who have fled to Sweden since 2016. The stories from this other half of her life always find their way into her tapestries. She shares: “I hear rightwing populist politicians say refugees, such as my patients, are responsible for ruining the welfare, that they have actually ruined themselves. It makes me angry and I feel a responsibility to testify about what I hear at work, through my weaving.” A direct protest against those who want to deport children and young people, Anna’s detailed tapestries place their portraits and stories into permanent existence.

The artist’s recent series of portrait tapestries specifically depict musicians who have been persecuted, imprisoned, censored or killed for their creative work. Another politically motivated labour, this collection of tapestries is a direct response to the killing and imprisonment of musicians, poets and artists in Iran as well as the systematic search for cultural workers in Ukraine during Russia’s invasion. Anna shares: “I wanted to use my voice for those who can’t. I cannot stop the Russian army or regime in Iran, but I can help my colleagues to continue to have a place in public and their work not silenced. All those I portrayed have shown such incredible courage, they are worth all respect and must not be forgotten,” the artist shares. Amongst the woven figures are Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot, American poet, writer and musician Dan Andersson and Argentinian singer Mercedes Sosa.

All of Anna’s projects either start with something that affects her deeply like this or are pictures formed from scenes she finds in the fabric of everyday life, like “the rhythm of stacked mugs” or the colours of beetroot on pink cloth. Before yarn colours her flat woven surfaces, the artist’s projects begin with these images she takes or sees in her mind, something that she works with for months before beginning a weave. “Because I only have one loom,” she says, "I always have to finish my last work before I start something new. I forget most of the images as new ones replace them, but those that remain until it’s their turn to be woven become the most important to me.”

When the sketching stage is finished, Anna begins the lengthy process of translating her images into large-scale tapestries — the final results of which are always a surprise for her. “When I’m weaving I only see a small part of the work, maybe 10-15cm at one time [...] when the tapestry is finished, the magical moment comes when I cut it down and put it on the wall to see it for the first time.” When asked what that thing is that has always brought her back to weaving, Anna concludes: “maybe it is that magical moment, or maybe it is my political vision that always brings me back. I want to contribute to the world in some way and this is how I can contribute, I can weave.”