ASPLUND/ÅMAN ART RUG COLLECTION

Did you know that ASPLUND Carpets occasionally collaborates with renowned artists and foundations under the name ASPLUND Art Rug Collection?

ABOUT THE ASPLUND/ÅMAN ART RUG COLLECTION

The ASPLUND/Åman Art Rug Collection is a unique collaboration between ASPLUND and curator Jan Åman, in which three of Sweden’s most prominent artists have been invited to use the rug as a medium for artistic expression. The result is a series of exclusive rugs that blend art and design with fine craftsmanship and functionality.

The collection features works by artists Cecilia Edefalk, Ernst Billgren, and Dan Wolgers. Each artist has created rugs that reflect their distinctive artistic voice, giving every piece a unique character.

The rugs are produced in limited editions:
– Hand-knotted “Fine Rugs”, with 120,000 to 260,000 knots per square meter, in editions of 10 pieces per size
– Hand-tufted rugs, in editions of 30 pieces per size
All rugs are crafted by some of the most skilled artisans in India, ensuring exceptional quality and exclusivity.

Each item comes with a numbered label, signed by the artist.

For sizes and prices see the catalogue here or go to asplundstore.se

For more information about purchasing the limited editions please contact: michael@asplund.org

ERNST BILLGREN

The well-known motifs from Ernst Billgren’s paintings were all there: deer, foxes, ducks, flounders… But for the Asplund/Åman Art Rug Collection Ernst Billgren chose to follow the logic of the carpet and reverse the perspective of the picture. The carpet is always seen from above. It’s a fairly obvious displacement, but it took an Ernst to express it.

In the picture you see Ernst Billgren’s solo exhibition”New Memories” at Stockholm’s Nationalmuseum, running from April 10 to October 5, 2025. The exhibition showcases approximately 25 new works by one of Sweden’s most renowned artists, Ernst Billgren. In this exhibition, Billgren reimagines classical paintings from the museum’s collection, blending traditional art historical motifs with pop culture references and kitsch.

As part of the exhibition, one rug designed by Billgren for the Asplund/Åman Art Rug Collection is on display. It’s called Paintings at an Exhibition and was made especially for the museum and consists of 260.000 knots, knotted by hand.

For more information about purchasing the limited editions please contact: michael@asplund.org

CECILIA EDEFALK

Cecilia Edefalk is a prominent Swedish artist, born in 1954 in Norrköping. She is known for her unique way of combining realism and conceptual art. Edefalk’s works are often characterized by a meditative and subtly symbolic expression, and she uses themes such as time, memory and the cyclical course of nature.

Cecilia made her breakthrough in the 1990s with works such as “Baby” and “Another Movement”, where her repetitive painting style became a signature. By repeating and varying motifs, she explores questions of authenticity and originality.

Edefalk’s work is also characterized by her slow and careful working process, where she gives each work time to develop organically. Her art has received international attention and has been exhibited in prestigious galleries and museums around the world, including the Moderna Museet in Stockholm.

The model for the rug with the text DOM is a small sign with the letters D, O and M on it: DOM, as in the others, or DOM (swedish) as in a judgment in the courtroom. So-called Norrköpings humor. Cecilia Edefalk gave the small sign to curator Jan Åman over 30 years ago.

For more information about purchasing the limited editions please contact: michael@asplund.org

DAN WOLGERS

Dan Wolgers, born in 1955 in Stockholm, is a Swedish artist and professor known for his conceptual and often humorous art. His work challenges traditional notions of art and the role of the artist through the use of irony, absurdity and playfulness.

The rug “ Eixszmi” is a ready-made artwork by Dan Wolgers. In the motif, he draws on children’s humorous, often drastic answers to school tests when they have to spell “excuse me”.
The design is lifted directly from the internet—a child’s unintentionally witty response to a school assignment, now widely recognized as a meme.

With no added design or reinterpretation, Wolgers turns this moment of accidental humor into a piece of contemporary art. The rug is hand-knotted by master artisans in India, blending the raw honesty of a child’s answer with the refined craftsmanship of traditional textile work.

For more information about purchasing the limited editions please contact: michael@asplund.org

A SELECTION OF OTHER CARPET & FINE RUGS ART PROJECTS:

BIBLIOTEKET RUG BY EMMA OLBERS FOR THE NATIONALMUSEUM LIBRARY

Designed for the public library at the Nationalmuseum in Stockholm, Biblioteket—which means “library” in Swedish—is a hand-knotted Tibetan rug that captures the essence of the space it inhabits.

Emma Olbers drew inspiration from her initial sketches of the Old Library, weaving together visual elements from the interior: the three grand arches and windows above, rows of books in the middle, and the newly installed oak parquet flooring below.