​ASPLUND x Hilma af Klint – An Exclusive Carpet Collection

ASPLUND is presenting a limited edition of handmade carpets in collaboration with the Hilma af Klint Foundation. ASPLUND has reproduced paintings from the collection “Paintings for the Temple”, created between 1906-1915, into six beautiful handmade carpets. The Temple collection has been very noticed in the last couple of years and this autumn it is more current than ever, being on view at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York.

ASPLUND has worked almost two years with the Hilma-project together with the foundation and a prominent carpet studio in the Indian district Mirzapur. The studio is well known for the skill of its craftspeople and its high standard in terms of workers’ conditions. The manufacturing of each carpet is created through skilled craftsmanship, with 142 000 knots per square meter it takes about 600 hours to complete the handknotted carpets. The yarns, which consist of New Zealand wool, silk and Tencel has been dyed to match af Klints characteristic shades: violet, warm red, pink, blue, and dark grey.

- Hilma’s oeuvre is remarkable and it was hard to make a decision among all the amazing paintings. For this collaboration we chose six very different patterns since we wanted to show the variation in her work, says Sandra Adrian Asplund, Creative Director at ASPLUND.

The collaboration consists out of six carpets; three large ones handknotted in wool and silk, three smaller ones handtufted in wool and Tencel. The large wool and silk carpets are three of the most well known from af Klints collection “The Ten Largest”.

Among the wool-tencel carpets is the blue a personal favourite of Adrian Asplund, it has a central position in af Klints work and a visible connection to The Ten Largest. The white has a modern graphic twist, and feels very ASPLUND-like. The pink carpet is a bit of an underdog and not as well known, but it has an amazing modern feeling of “fashion meets punk” which is remarkable since it was created in the beginning of the 20th century.

-We are incredibly proud of the results and the quality of these products. We are greatly honoured to have been trusted with this task by the Hilma af Klint Foundation says Thomas Asplund, CEO at ASPLUND.

The carpets are exhibited and sold at the Swedish art gallery CFHILL, the exhibition will continue until the 27th of October 2018. CFHILL is an art space located in a 17th century palace in central Stockholm. The gallery offers 800 square meters of art and the exhibitions are replaced every third week. CFHILL was founded in 2016 by Michael Elmenbeck, Michael Storåkers and Anna-Karin Pusic.

-In Sweden, we have grown accustomed to interiors decorated with fantastic textiles. This is much thanks to the efforts of geniuses like Josef Frank and Barbro Nilsson. Hilma af Klint’s oeuvre is so powerful that it can be easily materialised as a wall hanging, or on the floor, without losing any of its impact. A piece like this lends a warm, spiritual mood to the entire room. These carpets feel like classics already, says Michael Storåkers of CFHILL.

Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum explains the work of Hilma af Klint in the following words;
Discover the bold and dynamic canvases of the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint in the first major museum exhibition of her work in the United States. A contemporary of Vasily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, and Kazimir Malevich, af Klint began her explorations of abstract painting years before her male counterparts, but her work has only become known recently.

The following carpets are produced in the ASPLUND x Hilma af Klint collaboration.

• HaK103 – Handknotted in New Zeeland wool and silk, 315 x 234 cm, in an edition of 10. The Ten Largest, Childhood, Group IV, no 2.
• HaK104 – Handknotted in New Zeeland wool and silk, 321 x 240 cm, in an edition of 10. The Ten Largest, Youth, Group IV, no 3.
• HaK108 – Handknotted in New Zeeland wool and silk, 315 x 235 cm, in an edition of 10. The Ten Largest, Adulthood, Group IV, no 7.
• HaK42 – Handtufted in New Zeeland wool and Tencel, 200 x 160 cm, in an edition of 30. The Large Figure Paintings, Group III, no 5.
• HaK49 – Handtufted in New Zeeland wool and Tencel, 195 x 160 cm, in an edition of 30. Seven Pointed Star, Series WUS, Group V, no 2.
• HaK91 – Handtufted in New Zeeland wool and Tencel, 225 x 160 cm, in an edition of 30. Series US, Group VII, no 7.