The Malmö-based duo behind Altewai.saome have an unique ability to
juggle, combine and balance the styles and materials in their collections. In the latest spring collection the founders and designers Natalia Altewai and Randa Saôm were inspired by self-assured women who are not sitting still.

- We just had a thought, "power woman", to tie sports with classically chic and clarify the momentum of a woman's life. We must do everything today. Work, be smart and stay in shape. So we wanted to make clothes that fit the lifestyle, so you can feel stylish regardless how much other things you have in mind. The upcoming spring collection will be very very sharp powerdressed silhouette with pencil skirts, waist and shoulders. While there is a movement in altewai.saomes clothes with perforated fabrics that reminiscent of jogging suits, or the inside of the wind-cheaters, something practical and clarity in a collection that otherwise mentioned in the same sentence as Prada and Givenchy. And so it is and so it is and what they are most famous for: craftsmanship.

- We are passionate about creating. We are influenced by our past in the craft, and always starts from the main inspiration and interpret it in the embroidery.

The spring collection billows embroideries on clothes as soft moss, although they are made of hard beads. Although there are some of the conflicting encounter between tamed and active, classic and sporty. Earlier this year, Altewai.saome opened their first store in Malmo, but how they got there from the beginning is really a coincidence.

- We had not planned to be here, but it has proven to be good. Economically it is a great advantage to be based in Malmö compared to larger cities, and it's close to everything.

What happens now, when? Are you opening a new store soon?
- We take one step at a time so long ... right now we hope we can continue doing what we love and people love it back.

Malmö
10 Nov 2011

Tags: Altewai.saome

The absurdity becoming serious when the artist Sigurdur Gudmundsson depicts the lonely man's vulnerability.

Icelander Sigurdur Gudmundsson has become a prominent figure on the contemporary Nordic art scene through his multifaceted oeuvre. Depending on how the vision can be realized most easily Gudmundsson has shifted over the years working and moved freely between performance art, sculpture, writing, painting and photography. During the seventies and eighties, he worked with a suite of photographic works by the name of “Situations” that will appear at the Modern museum of art in Malmö this autumn.

- It is a collection of images that in many cases, something very humorous about it while there is also another dimension to them. At the first meeting, one experiences an absurdity that gradually more and more slipping into a kind of seriousness. There is something very sad in many of the pictures, says Andreas Nilsson, who together with Magnus Jensner has curated the exhibition. In almost all of the 21 images displayed in the exhibition Gudmundsson figures himself in harmony with the landscapes and street environments. The encounter between man and nature or the city recurs in several of the images.

- They are very theatrical in its expression. Gudmundsson makes a variety of existential issues in their pictures and putting herself in hilarious situations he portrays in many respects the lone human vulnerability, says Magnus Jensner.

The exhibition is entirely separate, but linked to the program for photography that makes the Museum of Modern Art 2011 in Malmö. It's exciting to see the pictures that are a central part of Sigurdur Gudmundsson artistry, says Magnus Jensner

Malmö
9 Nov 2011

Tags: Malmö, Modern museum of Art, Sigurdur Gudmundsson