Bildmuseet: Swedish Picture Book of the Year / The Wound

Emma AdBåges’s Såret [The Wound] has been awarded the Snöbollen [Snowball] prize for Swedish Picture Book of the Year. Bildmuseet’s exhibition of original illustrations from the winning book will open on Friday 26 May. Journalists are welcome to contact us for previews and interviews.

Among the picture books published last year, Emma AdBåge’s The Wound has been named the very best. It is a book about getting hurt, sustaining a wound, and suddenly finding yourself the centre of attention. The blood is scary but at the same time, the attention is a bit wonderful. But what happens afterwards, when the wound has healed? Who cares about a little scar?

The book has been named the best Swedish picture book published in 2022 and has been awarded the national Snöbollen (Snowball) prize. Emma AdBåge, who created both the pictures and the text, received the prize during Littfest, Umeå International Literature Festival, in spring 2023. The exhibition at Bildmuseet presents original drawings and sketches for the book, and the museum visitor can hear Emma AdBåge talk about how it came about. 

The Wound draws the reader into an everyday drama with an existential background. Facial expressions and poses confirm the drama of the moment, and examples of image creation as a form of processing are given here. Emma AdBåge allows the visual aspect to reinforce the theme through the red accent colour as a contrast to the institutionally pale environment. 

The exhibition Swedish Picture Book of the Year / The Wound is produced by Bildmuseet and curated by Brita Täljedal, who is also a member of the Snowball jury. The programme accompanying the exhibition includes the opening event with an artist talk and book signing, as well as school visits and activities in the creative workshop for museum visitors of all ages. Swedish Picture Book of the Yearis a recurring exhibition presented at Bildmuseet for the twelfth year.

Emma AdBåge (b. 1982, Linköping) is one of Sweden’s most acclaimed creators of picture books. She made her debut in 2001 and has since written and illustrated several books of her own, as well as illustrated more than thirty texts by other authors. AdBåge has received several prizes and awards, such as the 2013 Elsa Beskow Plaque, the 2018 August Prize, the 2020 Premio Andersen Award, the 2022 Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, and the 2022 Heffaklumpen Children’s Culture Prize. Hon was nominated for the August Prize in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2021, and 2022 when she was also nominated for the Nordic Council Children and Young People’s Literature Prize

This spring, Emma AdBåge received the Snöbollen prize for the best picture book published in 2022. The award is presented by Krumelur – the association for young words in the north, the Pilgatan Cultural Association, County Library of Västerbotten, Littfest, Umeå International Literature Festival, the Association of Swedish Illustrators and Graphic Designers, the municipality of Umeå, and Bildmuseet.

Press previews from now on
Welcome to contact us for a press preview and/or interviews. Press images can be downloaded via Bildmuseet’s website.

Opening on Art Friday 26 May 17:00–24:00
The exhibition is inaugurated at 17:00 by a conversation between Emma AdBåge and Brita Täljedal, curator, followed by book signing. Two more exhibitions will open at Bildmuseet this evening: Down North / Contemporary Art in the Arctic and the master’s degree show I Cut across the Stream / Umeå Academy of Fine Arts. Also, a live concert with Dreaming Wild, DJs Annika Norlin and Bottenvikens Silverkyrka, restaurant and bar until midnight. Read more about the opening evening.

Further information
Brita Täljedal, museum curator and member of the Snowball jury
brita.taljedal@bildmuseet.umu.se, +46 (0)90-786 77 14

Helena Vejbrink, press contact
helena.vejbrink@bildmuseet.umu.se, +46 (0)90-786 90 73