The l̶a̶s̶t̶ b̶a̶s̶k̶e̶t̶ makers from Risa: Crafting a plural kinship along tradition

Whilst I am vastly separated from the living conditions of my Swedish great-grandfather, growing up as a queer person with a mixed cultural heritage, in a working-class environment, the recurrent need to conform, find meaning and belonging has continued to colour my desire to make. Through my great-grandfather’s lived experience as an artisan, I have sought to decipher tradition in the context of my primary culture: the Swedish. Throughout this book, I have strived to explore its most dominant traits as it filters through a new type of lived experience: my own. Instead of the felt tensions between my multiple cultures being put against each other, they could merge as part of this storytelling. As the outward manifestation of an ever-evolving, internal contemplation, craft continues to be the process through which I make sense of the world—a process that continuously seeks to reflect the creation of a space in which to exist and belong. – Fadhel Mourali