Kristina Torsson

From Mah-Jong to Vamlingbo

2025

–

2025

Lada 2

The picture shows Mah-Jong dresses in different colors.

Vandalorum presents the first retrospective exhibition about and with the influential Swedish textile artist and fashion designer Kristina Torsson. The exhibition takes the audience through Torsson's entire artistic career, from her life’s work with Mah-Jong in the 1960s (in collaboration with Helena Henschen and Veronica Nygren), to the founding of Vamlingbolaget in 1983, and onwards into the present day’s never-ending experimentation. The exhibition will include approximately 600 objects: primarily clothing and fabrics, but also films, photographs, inspirational materials and sketches.

The exhibition highlights Torsson's lifelong driving forces as an artist and designer. For over six decades, she has created clothing for women, men, and children using high-quality materials that require minimal maintenance and remain timeless both in durability and aesthetics. She aims to bring beauty to many by designing simple and functional garments in bold colors and patterns. Committed to working on a small scale and sustainably, she continuously strives to support the survival of the Swedish textile industry.

The exhibition is produced by Vandalorum with scenography by TAF Studio. A catalog will be published for the exhibition, featuring a newly written text by Philip Warkander, author and PhD in fashion studies.

Kristina Torsson (b. 1940, based in Vamlingbo on Gotland) is educated at Konstfack. She has exhibited at venues including the Textile Museum in Borås and the Nordiska museet. Her work is represented in collections such as the Nationalmuseum and the Nordiska museet.

Thanks to: Tore G. Wärenstam Foundation, Estrid Ericson Foundation, Swedish Arts Council, Region Jönköping County, Värnamo Municipality, Vandalorum Partners: Hamrin, Liljedahl, Svenstig

^{Tennis court in Vamlingbo, 2023, photo: Mimmi Torsson
Mah-Jong dress in the pattern "Bred Rand" with sleeves in the pattern "Mustachen/Bruten Våg," photo by Carl Johan de Geer (1966)
Mah-Jong coat in the pattern Monsun, photo by Carl Johan De Geer (1966)
Mah-Jong corduroy jacket with a Vamlingbolaget shirt in the pattern Twin Peaks, photo by Mimmi Torsson (2018)
Mah-Jong jumpsuit}^Alfa-Centaur^{, photo by Carl Johan De Geer (1966)
Kristina Torsson drinking tea with her grandmother Elin, who is wearing a buttoned dress in the pattern}^Blomma^(later^{Mah-Jongblomma}^{), photo by Johanna Hald (1972)
Mah-Jong pants in the pattern Mustache, photo by Carl Johan De Geer (1966)
Vamlingbolaget's t-shirt and slim pants in the}^Tiger^{pattern, photo by Mimmi Torsson (2023)
Vamlingbolaget's cotton shirt in the pattern}^{Twin Peaks}^{and scarf in the pattern}^Rutan^{(1990)
Kristina Torsson outside Magasinet in Vamlingbo during the first summer, photographer unknown (1983)}