Stiftelsen
The foundation Stiftelsen för bevarandet av Astrid Lindgrens gärning.
The foundation was founded in 1996 in connection with a call to collect money to build a permanent exhibition in Vimmerby about Astrid Lindgren’s life and work.
Purpose
The aim of the foundation is to show Astrid Lindgren’s achievement in an exhibition hall in Vimmerby that is owned by the foundation and to award grants to persons developing children’s imagination in Astrid Lindgren’s spirit through literature, music, theatre, film or another artistic field.
The collection
Ahead of Astrid Lindgren’s 90th birthday on 14 November 1997, attention was drawn to the ambition of the foundation’s collection, which brought in approx. 4.8 million SEK. The national gift of 7.5 million SEK and an EU contribution of 3.2 million SEK meant that a total of just over 15 million SEK was collected. This allowed the building of the Astrid Lindgren estate to start immediately, and it was opened on the author’s 91st birthday in 1998. The farm is located in connection to Astrid Lindgren’s World, and until 2006 it had an exhibition on Astrid Lindgren’s achievement, childhood and sources of inspiration.
The new culture centre Astrid Lindgren’s Näs, comprising Astrid Lindgren’s childhood home and a research centre and library in the former vicarage at Näs, was planned for the Jubilee year 2007 and Astrid Lindgren’s 100th birthday. The question then arose of whether the permanent exhibition about Astrid’s life and work should also be held in the grounds.
Astrid Lindgrens Värld AB offered the foundation the chance to build a new exhibition hall at Näs in exchange for taking over the former Astrid Lindgren farm to fit in the new Seacrow Island setting. The proposal was accepted and the property exchange went through. The new exhibition hall is known as the Pavilion at Astrid Lindgren’s Näs.
A completely new exhibition on Astrid Lindgren’s life and work has been produced and paid for by the foundation. On 12 June 2007, Crown Princess Victoria opened the new culture centre Astrid Lindgrens Näs, comprising the childhood home, the research centre and the new Pavilion with the modern exhibition ‘Astrid Lindgren and the power of stories’.
The foundation currently hires out the Pavilion and exhibition to Astrid Lindgrens Vimmerby AB, which runs the public exhibition activity.