Ann Margret Dahlquist-Ljungberg

During the second edition of Småland Triennale: Worry – Art, Preparedness, Resistance two prominent artists from different eras meet at the Småland Art Archive in Vandalorum; artist, writer and activist Dahlquist-Ljungberg and contemporary sculptor and performance artist Ingela Ihrman. The two artists speak in different languages about our relationship with plant and animal life.

The presentation of Dahlquist-Ljungberg focus on a selection of works form her long career that portrays intimate depictions of nature. She nurtured a special fascination for the hogweed (Heracleum) that recurs in a large number of images and texts. She was marvelled at its beauty and resilience, while the general view then as now is that it should be removed because of its toxic and in some cases invasive nature. A fascination she shares with Ihrman.

Keep the worry alive said Dahlquist-Ljungberg in verse Factors of concern from the poetry work Homo Atomicus (1980). ”What commutes within you, is more than a matter of time. Keep your worries alive! Many people pretend it doesn't come to them.“ Dahlquist-Ljungberg used her worry and her art as a force for resistance to the injustices of society.

Ann Margret Dahlquist-Ljungberg (born 1915, Ulricehamn and died 2002, Ljungby) was an artist, poet and writer. She studied at Konstfack- University of Arts, Crafts and Design 1931-1936 and further trained in etching at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stockholm 1936-1941. She is represented at, among others, Moderna Museet, Gothenburg Museum of Art and in international museum collections in Norway, Germany, the United States and Japan. She has also published a number of works in both fiction and poetry at Nordstedts Förlag.

Thanks to: Ljungberg museum, Fullersta Gård, Värnamo Municipality, Region Jönköping and Region Kronoberg