In this year’s seasonal exhibition at Kalmar Castle, you will meet a strong woman with an exciting story in the exhibition Ester Blenda!
Ester Blenda Nordström was a Swedish star reporter, an undercover journalist disguised as a maid, an adventuress, and a traveller. Dressed in motorcycle clothes, with a gun in her purse, she broke away from the strict conventions surrounding the expectations on women’s actions in the early 1900s. She wrote press history, fought for women’s right to vote, and served as a voice of the common people.
Despite the fact that Ester Blenda Nordström was both celebrated and famous in her lifetime, she was later forgotten for many years. In 2016, Anna Hylander released a documentary titled Ester Blenda, and the following year saw the publication of Fatima Bremmer’s biography Ett jävla solsken. The book won the August Prize in 2017, and has sold over 240 000 copies.
The exhibition Ester Blenda! has previously been displayed at Skarhult Castle in Scania, where it drew a large and diverse audience from all over the country. The exhibition is built around scenographic sets, bringing to life various events in the life of Ester Blenda, through items, films, and a treasure trove of photos from private archives. Ester Blenda! is the work of exhibition producer Alexandra von Schwerin in co-operation with author Fatima Bremmer and director Anna Hylander.
The exhibition is now displayed at Kalmar Castle, through collaboration with the Kalmar County Museum and cultural producer Charlotte Aaby Hertzman.
Ester Blenda! is displayed in the Burned Hall at Kalmar Castle, open daily from March 31st to November 6th, 2022.