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Knutte Wester

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Knutte WesterA Bastard Child

    Black and white watercolour painting by Knutte Wester, depicting a child with wind in the hair looking at the viewer.
    Knutte Wester, from A Bastard Child, 2012–2016

    Throughout 2012–2016, Knutte Wester made one drawing per day. These works were in watercolour and ink on paper. Each picture represents a scene from his grandmother’s life, as told to him by his grandmother herself. The result was some 1,000 watercolours. 670 of them are the starting point for an animated documentary, Horungen (A Bastard Child), which, along with seven other films, was recently chosen to represent Sweden at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam, one of the world’s most prestigious documentary festivals.

    Both the film and the original watercolours will be shown at The Nordic Watercolour Museum in spring 2017. The exhibition opens simultaneously with Swedish Television’s first broadcasting of Knutte Wester’s unique cinematic portrait of Hervor and her remarkable upbringing as a child born out of wedlock, in the grim reality of Sweden in the early 20th century.  

    Interview with Knutte Wester, produced by The Nordic Watercolor Museum in 2017

    About

    Knutte Wester

    Knutte Wester (b. 1977) works with video, sculpture, drawing and installations. He graduated from the Umeå Academy of Fine Arts in 2003 and has participated in group and solo exhibitions all over the world, including Moscow, Johannesburg and Stockholm. Knutte Wester’s works are often underpinned by documentary elements. He is a storyteller, who uses an unassuming approach to reveal injustices, abuse of power and social problems. He often lends his voice to people in need and those who find it hard to make themselves heard.

    Picture of Knutte Wester kneeling in his studio

    Pictures from the exhibition

    Sculpture by Knutte Wester
    Photo: Kalle Sanner
    White walls covered with paintings in black and white
    Photo: Kalle Sanner
    White walls covered with several paintings in black and white
    Photo: Kalle Sanner
     Photo of cinema screen with watercolour in black and white, in the foreground red cinema seats
    Photo: Kalle Sanner