Berit Hjelholt

Berit Ann-Mari Hjelholt née Eriksson (1920–2016) was a Finnish-born Danish textile artist. For many years, her large tapestry "Som en rejselysten flåde" hung behind the speaker's chair in the Folketing or Danish parliament. It was relocated in 2016 to Vendsyssel Kunstmuseum.

Biography Born on 21 September 1920 in Munsala, Finland, Berit Ann-Mari Eriksson was the daughter of the fisherman and farmer Otto Alfred Eriksson (1882-1965) and Edit Maria Sundell (1888-1959). One of seven children, she was brought up in a modest but tightly-knit Swedish-speaking family where the girls were taught to spin. Her father was often away, travelling as far afield as New Zealand as a craftsman, but always entertaining the family with stories of his adventures on his return. From 1939, she attended the Konstindustriella Läroverket Atheneum in Helsinki, an arts and crafts college, where she learnt textile arts, graduating in 1947.

Hjelholt has also decorated a number of Danish churches, with works such as Livets træ (Tree of Life) in Ellebæk Church in Holstebro (1989) and Denne er Dagen (This is the Day) for Østervang Church in Glostrup (1994). Her work has been exhibited in several solo exhibitions in Denmark and Sweden, in particular in 1990 at the Vendsyssel Kunstmuseum in Hjørring.