Heading into the deeper parts of November is usually not associated with happy tidings but this year November had something special in store for us! We were visited in the store some time ago by three women carrying envelopes and flower bouquets, and as that combination isn't an every-day sight for us we started to wonder what they were up to. Well, it turned out that they were here to let us know that the National Association of Swedish Handicraft Societies had chosen us as receivers of a stipend worth 10.000 kr! The stipend is called "Kerstin Andersson Åhlins stipendium" and it is one of those stipends that can't be applied for, but is given to those who the National Association of Swedish Handicraft Societies decide should have it. Naturally we were very pleasantly surprised!
The motivation is originally written in Swedish and can be read here, but we thought we'd translate it for our international followers.
"Second Sunrise is awarded to Kerstin Andersson Åhlin's stipend of SEK 10,000 for continued work in a commercial context linking education, book publishing and retailing. Second Sunrise works in an exploratory and curious way to make handmade creations available.
Second Sunrise shows us that "the whole world" can be gathered in one place without having to be labelled and that quality and environmental awareness can interact with a commercial context.
We hope that the scholarships can be useful in designing more courses and their continued work.
To have our work noticed in this way is very honoring and especially so since we have not even applied for it! We look forward to the ceremony where we will receive the stipend, which will be held at the Swedish History Museum on 17/11. The event is called Handmade Issues and if you want to attend, you can get your tickets here!