Press reception. Announcement of the Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize 2013, 29th of May, at the Röhsska Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden.

PRESS RECEPTION

Welcome to the announcement of the Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize 2013, at 11 am on Wednesday 29^th of May, at the Röhsska Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden.

Tom Hedqvist, jury chairman and incoming director of the Röhsska Museum, will be announcing the winner of this year’s Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize on Wednesday 29^th of May at 11.00 am. The prize sum of SEK 1 million is funded by the Torsten Söderberg Foundation and the Ragnar Söderberg Foundation. This year’s prize-winner will be present at the event.

Accreditation for the press reception and lunch at the Röhsska Museum should be obtained Monday 27^th of May. Please contact Birgitta Wåhlander by calling +46 31 368 31 53 or by email: birgitta.wahlander@kultur.goteborg.se

TORSTEN AND WANJA SÖDERBERG PRIZE – BACKGROUND

Each year the Röhsska Museum has the pleasure of awarding the Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize, which is intended to support design and the decorative arts in the Nordic region. The prize was inaugurated in 1992 by the Torsten and Ragnar Söderberg foundations in memory of Torsten and Wanja Söderberg.

The Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize, which was awarded for the first time in 1994 on the 100 ^th anniversary of Torsten Söderberg’s birth, has previously been awarded to:

 Ceramic artist Jane Reumert, Denmark, 1994.

Jewellery artist Liv Blåvarp, Norway, 1995.

Designer Brita Flander, Finland, 1996.

Furniture designer Mats Theselius, Sweden, 1997.

Textile artist Louise Sass, Denmark, 1998.

Authors Aðalsteinn Ingólfsson, Iceland; Kaj Kalin, Finland; John Vedel-Rieper, Denmark; Jorunn Veiteberg, Norway and Kerstin Wickman, Sweden, 1999.

Designer Peter Opsvik, Norway, 2000.

Industrial designer Björn Dahlström, Sweden, 2001.

Graphic designer HC Ericson, Sweden, 2002.

Architect and designer Sigurður Gústafsson, Iceland, 2003.

Jewellery artist Janna Syvänoja, Finland, 2004.

Volvo YCC concept car:Anna Rosén, Cynthia Charwick, Maria Uggla,

Maria Widell Christiansen, Camilla Palmertz, Eva-Lisa Andersson, Elna Holmberg,

Lena Ekelund and Tatiana Butovitsch Temm, Sweden, 2005.

Ceramic artist and designer Ole Jensen, Denmark, 2006.

Design group Norway Says: Torbjørn Anderssen, Andreas Engesvik and

Espen Voll, Norway, 2007.

Fashion designer Steinunn Sigurðardóttir, Iceland, 2008.

Designer Harri Koskinen, Finland 2009.

Design group Front, Sweden 2010.

Fashion designer Henrik Vibskov, Denmark 2011.

Jewellery engineer Sigurd Bronger, Norway 2012.

The SEK 1,000,000 prize is the highest in the world; it is determined by a jury and awarded annually.

The Torsten and Wanja Söderberg Prize will be ceremoniously awarded in Gothenburg on 4^th November. An exhibition of the prize-winner’s work will open at the Röhsska Museum on the 5^th of November 2013.

The jury consists of representatives from the five Nordic countries: Museum Director adj. professor Anne-Louise Sommer, Designmuseum Danmark, Copenhagen, Denmark; Director of design and decorative arts Widar Halén, National Museum, Oslo, Norway; Museum Director Jukka Savolainen,  Design Museum, Helsinki, Finland; Museum Director Harpa Þórsdóttir, Hönnunarsafn Íslands Museum of Design and Applied Art, Reykjavik, Iceland; Ph.D. Tomas Söderberg, chairman of Torsten Söderberg Foundation; and the jury’s chairman, Museum Director Tom Hedqvist, Röhsska Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden.