HERITAGE Gnesta, 11 December 2014

The places I have visited, and the places I have worked. The weaving and spinning mills, cultural history museums, archives and storages. Empty spaces with almost no readable signs of previous use, rooms filled with leftovers, objects removed from production a long time ago. Mills that are still operating, with their own history stored in basements and attics. Or, perhaps, not recorded at all. Sometimes there is neglect and complete chaos. Other times there are traces of attempts at creating structure.

I am a tailor, weaver and dyer. I have experience with textile production within an industrial context. The stories and objects that engage me resonate with my own life - with my family history, my skills and my knowledge. I observe the changes that appear when an object is moved from one context to another, or when the context itself is changed. Purpose, meaning, transparency or obscurity.

During the autumn of 2012 I visited a weaving mill at Tingvoll, when production was about to be closed down for good. Tools, equipment, samples and documents were lying around in a state of obvious neglect. People who had worked at the mill for decades had lost their jobs.

I could sense deep personal conflict among the staff still at work. Conflict between the need to express their pride in their skills and the history of the company where they had worked for so long, and the need to protest against the owners who had let it all fall apart. The need to preserve on the one hand, and to abandon and forget on the other. The mill used to be known for its reliability and high standards. It was now a ruin.

This situation was the starting point of a process of negotiation, and I became part of a discussion about value that included former members of staff, the owner and museum representatives. In relation to economic development and market realities, an object can at one time and in one place be regarded as junk. At another time, in another place, the same object might become part of a museum collection.