Woven Rooms of Childhood- From Parklek to Itoshima

Upcoming Project – Japan summer 2026

After the mobile Parklek in artistic form, woven artefacts and marionettes of collective childhood memories, has been presented in Kramfors through a residency, I will now bring it abroad. In July 2026 the project travels to Japan, where I will take part in an artist residency at Studio Kura in Itoshima.

This residency creates a dialogue with the Japanese adventure playgrounds (asobi-ba), which emerged during the 1970s inspired by Scandinavian staffed playgrounds and the British junk playground movement. Both traditions carry ideas of children’s right to free play and community, yet shaped through different cultural expressions.

Japanese craft traditions have long inspired Europe. Already during the time of the East India Company, Japanese materials, patterns, and techniques sparked fascination. In the 1960s and 70s, Japanese textiles, lacquerware, and handmade paper were exhibited in Swedish museums such as the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities and the Röhsska Museum. These encounters brought together simplicity, the hand’s process, and the use of everyday materials as central expressions. In the same spirit, my project seeks to weave together the social practice and aesthetics of the parklek with Japanese play and craft culture—an exchange where everyday life and artistry become bridges between countries.