Please join us for a conversation about D for Daughter, a book by Elina Birkehag and Laslo Strong published by Spector Books.

Deep in the woods in Dalarna, Sweden, scattered amongst stumps and newer growth trees, stand Scotch pine trees, hundreds of years old—thick, gnarled, and covered with carvings. The messages inscribed into their trunks were made by female shepherds who, between the seventeenth and the early twentieth century, left their villages to live and work together on the fäbod (summer farm) and lead their families’ cattle to graze. While out in the pastures, these young women carved dates, their initials, and notes to each other. The trunks became inscribed with a kind of frenetic teenage scrawl, a coded language, an assertion of their existence: HERE WE CARVE OUR NAMES.

Elina Birkehag grew up in a village not far from these woods. She has searched and documented the carved messages on the trees—a “living” archive that will also die, decompose, and eventually disappear. Her book collects written notes, drawings, photographs, and other findings, which connect us with the female shepherds and allow us to read the trees.

On this occasion, Elina Birkehag and Laslo Strong will discuss their contributions to the publication, how this project came to be, and the process of putting it into a book. The discussion will be moderated by Victoria Addona, Editor, CCA Publications.

This event is open to the public, no reservation needed.

Elina Birkehag is an artist working with writing and inscription in relation to the body, technology, and time. Her work is mediated through a variety of disciplines, including publication, photography, short film, wall drawing, and performance. Birkehag graduated with an MFA from the Royal Institute of Art in Stockholm and holds a BA from the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam.

Laslo Strong is a graphic designer and partner of Our Polite Society. He studied at the HFBK in Hamburg, the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam (BA), and the Konstfack University of Arts, Craft, and Design in Stockholm (MA). Laslo develops autonomous research projects on typography and design history, andcollaborates with artists and organizations.