Visit the Ilon Wikland exhibition “Den långa, långa resan” at Formex

At this year’s Formex fair in Stockholm, August 23-26, Rights & Brands will present an exhibition about Ilon Wikland’s artistry. The exhibition will be up during the whole fair in stand AG:04, by the entrance to the A-hall.

 

Ilon Wikland is one of Sweden’s most popular children’s book illustrators but is strangely unknown to the general public, even though she is the one who illustrated most of Astrid Lindgren’s books and beloved characters. Ilon came as a lone refugee to Sweden, as the Soviet Red Army marched into her homeland Estonia in 1944. A current, but sad parallel to today’s stream of refugee children from Ukraine.

Ilon Wikland’s artistry is versatile, and her illustrations shows her very wide register. Ilon, today 92 years old, has been awarded numerous awards for his artistry, but the road to success was long and sometimes very dramatic.

Ilon drew inspiration for the illustrations in the books from reality: the children and the family’s room became models for Lillebror’s room in Lillebror and Karlsson on the roof (Karlsson på taket), daughters Anna and Birgitta are models for Lotta in Lotta on Troublemaker Street (Lotta på Bråkmakargatan) and Kerstin Children of Noisy Village (Barnen i Bullerbyn) 

Ilon Wiklands artistry is today managed by Design Ilon Wikland AB which is run by daughters Helene, Fredrika, Anna and Birgitta Wikland with the aim of preserving and developing Ilon’s fantastic art treasure. Design Ilon Wikland AB is in turn represented by Rights & Brands. 

The exhibition will be presented during Formex, August 23-26, with personnel from Rights & Brands present during the full fair.

A press conference will be held on August 23 at 11:20 in stand AG:04, outside the entrance to the A-hall. Lotta Ahlvar moderates and together with Ilon Wikland’s daughters, the sources of inspiration for “Lotta on Troublemaker Street” and Kerstin in “Bullerbyn”, tell the story of Ilon Wikland’s artistry and life.

 

Download press images here