© Aron Landahl, from the picture book Alla äter alla [Everybody Eats Everybody], 2023. Courtesy of the artist.
© Aron Landahl, from the picture book Alla äter alla [Everybody Eats Everybody], 2023. Courtesy of the artist.

Press release -

Swedish Picture Book of the Year / Everybody Eats Everybody

On 15 March, an exhibition opens with Aron Landahl’s original paintings for Alla äter alla [Everybody Eats Everybody], selected as the year’s best Swedish picture book. The opening will take place during Bildmuseet’s Art Friday with Littfest – Umeå International Literature Festival.

Press preview of the exhibition is available by appointment from Wednesday 13 March, as well as interview opportunities with Aron Landahl and Brita Täljedal, museum curator and jury member. Please email your request. At the opening on 15 March at 5:00 pm, the artist will present his exhibition in conversation with Brita Täljedal. 

A blood-filled mosquito is swallowed by a dragonfly, which is eaten by a toad, which is eaten by a snake, which is swallowed by a gull, which is taken by a seal... Alla äter alla [Everybody Eats Everybody] has been named the best Swedish picture book of 2023 and honoured with the national award Snöbollen [The Snowball] at Littfest 2024. Bildmuseet’s exhibition presents all original paintings for the award-winning book, and visitors can listen to Aron Landahl talking about how it came about.

The picture book Alla äter alla tells a story of beautiful and violent, hungry animals eating one another in a circular narrative depicting the food chain. The simultaneously realistic and fabulously imaginative images convey the drama of the animals’ struggle. Aron Landahl’s detailed paintings, executed in acrylic on paper, have their own style where one can find references to old scientific illustrations and other artists. The jury states: Each striking spread offers a myriad of details, inviting the reader to observe the fauna and the flora. Threads intertwine with medieval bestiaries, vintage posters, and artists such as Maria Sibylla Merian, Henri Rousseau and Hans Arnold. This picture book, situated at the intersection of fact, fiction and fantasy, is not only hauntingly beautiful but also cruel.

Aron Landahl (b. 1984, Visby) resides in Uppsala. He is an illustrator, musician, writer, and nurse. Landahl debuted as a picture book creator with the cosy thriller Dropp dropp (2019) and has subsequently illustrated several books featuring texts by Barbro Lindgren. In 2023, his second picture book, Alla äter alla, was released, which has since been nominated for the August Prize 2023 and is now awarded the Snöbollen prize. Landahl will be receiving the award at Littfest on Friday, 15 March.

The exhibition Swedish Picture Book of the Year / Alla äter alla is produced by Bildmuseet. It includes learning programmes and activities for visitors of all ages. Swedish Picture Book of the Year is a recurring exhibition presented at Bildmuseet for the thirteenth year in 2024. 

Exhibition opening Art Friday, 15 March at 5:00 pm 
The exhibition will be inaugurated as part of the programme during Art Friday with Littfest on March 15, which runs from 5:00 pm to 1:00 am. At 5 pm, Aron Landahl will present his exhibition in dialogue with museum curator Brita Täljedal. Two additional exhibitions will open during the evening: Elias Crespin / Chronomorphosis (press release) and Eight Degrees / Contemporary Art about the Forest (press release).

Press requests and images
For a press preview or requests, please email press.bildmuseet@umu.se or call press officer Helena Vejbrink at +46(0)90 7869073. To download press images, visit www.bildmuseet.umu.se/en/pressimages

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Bildmuseet is one of Sweden’s foremost venues for international contemporary art and visual culture. The exhibitions are produced in collaboration with artists, museums and universities worldwide, and often attract both national and international attention. As a visitor, you are invited to participate in guided tours and creative workshops, listen to artist talks, debates, lectures and live music, watch film screenings and attend other events.

Housed in an acclaimed building at the Umeå Arts Campus, right next to the Umeå Academy of Fine Arts, Umeå Institute of Design and Umeå School of Architecture, Bildmuseet is a part of Umeå University – one of Sweden's largest institutions of higher education with over 36000 students and 4,000 employees. It is a multifaced university where studies and research within the creative realm make up an important part of the university's cornerstone.

Contacts

Helena Vejbrink

Helena Vejbrink

Communication officer Bildmuseet +46 90 786 9073

Umeå University

Umeå University is one of Sweden's largest universities with over 37,000 students and 4,300 employees. The university is home to a wide range of education programmes and world-class research in a number of fields. Umeå University was also where the gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9 was discovered – a revolution in gene-technology that was awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry.

Founded in 1965, Umeå University is characterised by tradition and stability as well as innovation and change. Education and research on a high international level contributes to new knowledge of global importance, inspired, among other things, by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The university houses creative and innovative people that take on societal challenges. Through long-term collaboration with organisations, trade and industry, and other universities, Umeå University continues to develop northern Sweden as a knowledge region.

The international atmosphere at the university and its unified campus encourages academic meetings, an exchange of ideas and interdisciplinary co-operation. The cohesive environment enables a strong sense of community and a dynamic and open culture in which students and staff rejoice in the success of others.

Campus Umeå and Umeå Arts Campus are only a stone's throw away from Umeå town centre and are situated next to one of Sweden's largest and most well-renowned university hospitals. The university also has campuses in the neighbouring towns Skellefteå and Örnsköldsvik.

At Umeå University, you will also find the highly-ranked Umeå Institute of Design, the environmentally certified Umeå School of Business, Economics and Statistics and the only architectural school with an artistic orientation – Umeå School of Architecture. The university also hosts a contemporary art museum Bildmuseet and Umeå's science centre – Curiosum. Umeå University is one of Sweden's five national sports universities and hosts an internationally recognised Arctic Research Centre.

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