Maria Norrman - Barbro and Holger Bäckström's grant 2023

The project is about her relationship with the French dancer Jane Avril (1868-1943) who was a model and friend of the artist Toulouse-Lautrec. Jane Avril was a cultural figure who was active around the turn of the century in 1900 and known in her time for her expressive dance art. In 2003, Norrman was 16 years old and saw pictures and photographs of Jane Avril for the first time. She felt connected to Avril's personality and expression, and has since created various artworks in which she approaches Jane Avril and her time period in different ways.

At Malmö Konstmuseum, a selection of Norrman’s artworks on Jane Avril is displayed. Such as still images from 2004 where Norrman as a teenager performs a self-choreographed cancan dance in front of an audience at her high school. A photograph from 2006 shows the artist wearing self-tailored 1890s clothing in front of a Toulouse-Lautrec painting in which Avril is the subject. In a video loop from 2019, Norrman invoked Avril and recreated one of her dances based on contemporary descriptions. The textile works called Altar for Jane Avril are made in Avril's honor and describe various events in her life, or aspects of her person.

In the spring of 2023, the artistic documentary Jane Avril – The life of a Moulin Rouge Dancer premiered at Cinema Panora, cortesy Malmö Konstmuseum. In the documentary, Norrman tells about Avril's life in detail, starting from her birth in 1868, until her death in 1943. The film was shot in Paris.