manu forti

By the shore of Vättern lies Strand, the former residency of Ellen Key. Before the building was even completed, Ellen Key had decided that the house after her death would become a summer home for working women in need of recreation. During the summer of 2013 I, and fellow artist Katrine Persson, spent two weeks at Strand during which we worked on a film with the starting point in our own work situations and Ellen Keys deed. “The books built the house” Ellen used to say and her collection contains over 5 000 titles. The title of this work refers to her ex libris/bookplate, a tag glued to the inside of a book marking ownership. Manu forti means “with a strong hand" and Ellen Keys bookplate depicts a hand holding a dagger against a background of an Oak tree.