Tove Jansson: Tales from the Nordic Archipelago, ICA

In their exhibition Tales from the Nordic Archipelago, which looks into the life of Tove Jansson, ICA unravel the Moomin-creator's beautifully eccentric world 

Documents from the life of the brilliant Tove Jansson , the inventor of Moominland , will be on display from 1 5th July , continuing a wonderfully quirky programme of small but perfectly formed exhibitions in the ICA 's Fox Reading Room . The exhibition includes never before seen photographs taken by her younger brother, Per Olov Jansson , and fashion photographer C-G Hagström , with whom she was good friends. In addition, first edition books , illustrations , and copies of the Moomin comic strips from the London Evening News give an insight into Jansson's utterly unique imaginative capabilities.

The back story

Tove Jansson became famous for her series of books about a family of trolls called the Moomins. The spirit of her work reflects the ideals of the family she grew up in, living simply and close to nature. For a long time, every summer Jansson lived on Klovharu, a private island in the Finnish archipelago, with her life partner artist Tuulikki Pietilä. For Jansson, life on the island meant self-reliance, privacy, and dream-space. On Klovharu she was able to explore the utopian values demonstrated by her community of valley-dwelling trolls. She loved rocks, and would roll them into the sea or build dens. 

This exhibition poignantly brings together documents from both her life and her work to form a portrait of this remarkable artist on the 100th anniversary of her birth.