PRESS

Birgitta Notlöf is the driving force behind the non-profit organisation Livstycket Knowledge and Design Centre. Her vision was clear when she started up the organisation in 1992. Livstycket was to be a place where immigrant women were helped to overcome their isolation and to learn the Swedish language.

Today, Livstycket is a contemporary knowledge and design centre in Tensta, Stockholm. Women from all over the world participate in the centre’s activities. Some of those who come to Livstycket are illiterate; others have high level qualifications from their homeland. However, they all share a common goal and that is to get to know a new country, a new language and a new culture.

At Livstycket, participants get the opportunity to learn the language with the aid of functional pedagogy. Artistic activities, such as textile printing, embroidery and sewing, are combined with theoretical studies. In this way, words acquire a function, a reality and a context. The words "scissors, thread and thank you" are merely words until they are given a real meaning.

At Livstycket artistic creativity is a way of dealing with old memories and of learning new things. Our beautiful and exciting textile patterns are often born out of a variety of projects and they convey truly unique stories, memories and experiences. Livstycket is a non-profit organisation which operates primarily through grants from the City of Stockholm as well as thanks to various project grants.