Märta Mossa

2023. Commissioned by Göteborgs Konsthall

Sweden is home to more than 1000 kinds of moss (compared to only about 30 species of trees). A living carpet is woven with eight types of moss common to Gothenburg area: kvastmossa (broom moss), husmossa (house moss), väggmossa (wall moss), vitmossa (white moss), cypressfläta (cypress braid), björnmossa (bear moss), stor björnmossa (great bear moss), and vågig sidenmossa (wavy silk moss).

The living moss carpet is inspired by the iconic rug "Hästhagen" (The Horse Farm) woven by feminist textile artist Märta Måås-Fjetterströms (1873-1941) in 1923 for the Gothenburg Exposition.

Three dancers cultivate slow and tender movements to bond with the moss communities. Visitors are invited to the moss spa, to remember different types of moss through texture, smell, and sound.

In collaboration with Gothenburg Botanical Garden, DACE - Dance Art Critical Ecology, and Ina Dokmo, Ingeborg Zachariassen, Ossi Niskala, Benedikte Esperi, Liv Stoltz, Petra Johansson, Mattias Norström, Magdalena Ågren, Casper Johansson, Dan Lissvik and Mija Renström.