Upcoming Lecture on Vikings, Long Ships, and Textiles for Sails

Update: A Norwegian Textile Letter reader had a problem when clicking on the “mailto” link for Howard, to get the zoom link. If that happens, put this address in your email program: nordicspiritclassics@gmail.com. Technology is great when it works! Happy new year. 

Vikings and textile fans! There is an upcoming free lecture available by Zoom, coming up soon, this Friday, January 12.

On January 12 at 7:30 PM Pacific Time there will be a Zoom video presentation by Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson of Uppsala University in Sweden. In this 32 minute program, Dr. Hedenstierna-Jonson will speak about the beginnings of sail ships in the Nordic countries and textile requirements to service a Viking longship. Contact Howard at nordicspiritclassics@gmail.com for the Zoom link.

Dr. Hedenstierna-Jonson is  one of the speakers who will be coming to Thousand Oaks in February for the 25th annual Nordic Spirit Symposium. This year the theme is Vikings: New Technology — New Discoveries. https://scandinaviancenter.org/nordic-spirit-symposium/

Dr. Charlotte Hedenstierna-Jonson’s bio on the Uppsala University website includes a long list of presentations and publications on Viking archaeology. She describes her specialty:
I am a researcher and part of the Viking Phenomenon research project. I studied at the Archaeological Research Laboratory, Stockholm University, and presented a PhD thesis in 2006 on the Birka Warrior – the material culture of a martial society. With a background in field archaeology and as senior curator at the Swedish History Museum (SHM) I have held research fellowships at SHM, Stockholm University and the Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum (RGZM) in Mainz. Previous research projects have focused on warfare, identities, mobility and material culture in Late Iron Age – Viking Age societies. Most recently I was part of the interdisciplinary ATLAS-project aiming at unravelling human prehistory within present day Sweden by combining archaeology, physical anthropology and genetics.

Thank you to Laurann Gilbertson, Curator at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, for this tip.

Robbie LaFleur
norwegiantextileletter.com

Nordic Hands (a book review for those who may not have finished their holiday shopping)

Dear Norwegian Textile Letter friends,

Anita Osterhaug, the former editor of Handwoven magazine, wrote a warm, interesting, and beautifully-illustrated book about Nordic culture and handcraft, Nordic Hands: 21 Fiber Craft Objects to Discover Scandinavian Culture. The projects at the heart of the book are imaginative and beautifully designed by a variety of Nordic fiber experts. I wanted to add this review to the Norwegian Textile Letter before Christmas (phew – that’s just under the wire), because you may know just the right recipient. And sure, that might be yourself! Read the full review.

A Christmas tablecloth by Ingrid Larsen from the Norwegian Digital Museum: https://digitaltmuseum.no/011023232091/teppe

Happy new year!

Thank you to all the readers of the Norwegian Textile Letter who have contributed in 2023. It is so appreciated. Consider joining them with a donation. Takk!

Robbie LaFleur

 

 

Norwegian Textile Letter – Two Webinar Notices and a Book Review

Dear Norwegian Textile Letter friends (and Norwegian knitting fans),

I added a final article to last month’s Norwegian Textile Letter issue, “Annemor Sundbø’s Latest Book: An Eminent Exploration of Nordic Sweater History.” The book should be purchased for the photos alone. Reviewer Mary Skoy highlighted a number of photos and sections — I’m not sure how she was even able to choose!

I added two webinar notices to the December “Nordic News and Notes” column.

Upcoming Webinar Featuring Norwegian Knitters Arne & Carlos

“Healing Trauma through Craft.” World Hope Forum. December 17, 2023, 9 am-11 am CST. Register for free

Recent events continue to challenge our sense of humanity on an international scale and so the next edition of World Hope Forum has gathered speakers who practice mending, caring, and giving; a hopeful attempt before the Holidays to knit society back together. Among the featured guests are well-known authors Arne & Carlos: “Arne Nerjordet and Carlos Zachrisson are highly regarded fashion designers, textile artists, YouTubers, and authors. Their work is highly influenced by their Scandinavian background and everyday life in rural Norway. They work under their artist name ARNE & CARLOS, established in 2001.  Today, the duo designs for and works closely with Rowan and Regia yarns. They have also written ten books.”

Upcoming Webinar on Norwegian Knitting History

“The History of Norwegian Sweaters.” Presentation by Laurann Gilbertson, Chief Curator, Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. Thursday, January 4, 2024, 6:30 pm CST. Sponsored by the Sons of Norway, Nidaros Lodge #1-001, Minneapolis, MN. Click here to register.   (Trouble registering, or accessing the Zoom event?  Email Carolyn at cjtownsen@comcast.net.)

Learn about the history of different types and styles of Norwegian sweaters, including Setesdal, Fana, Marius, and Olympic.  Laurann Gilbertson will also talk about the symbolism behind some of the patterns and colors on sweaters made today. Those attending are invited to wear their sweaters! If you do, make sure to have your camera on!!

Happy holidays! God jul!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this year’s articles. There are many good ones in the works for 2024. I also made a new year’s resolution to include more notices of exhibits of traditional and contemporary weaving in Norway. I often haven’t included the information because there was no time to write or solicit whole articles. But I will include more notices in the “Nordic Notes” column. Perhaps some readers can visit, or the notice may include a significant online version, or at the very least, readers can learn about and follow up on artists new to them.

Thank you to everyone who helps support the Norwegian Textile Letter with donations to cover expenses. Your financial support is crucial; an end-of-the-year donation would be much appreciated. Thank you for being a subscriber. 

Robbie LaFleur

Click on the image for an easy link to donate. Tusen takk!

Nordic News and Notes: December

Dear friends,

The December “Nordic News and Notes” column includes some time-sensitive notices, primarily an upcoming free webinar. The International Hajji Baba Society (Washington DC) will host a Zoom webinar by Dr. Michèle Hayeur Smith.

“Norse Textiles and Women in the North Atlantic: Iceland and Greenland from the 8th Century to the 15th Century. Sunday, December 10, 1 pm EST. Free. Register here.

If you are up for additional virtual fiber activities, the column links to upcoming online classes from Vesterheim Folk School and the American Swedish Institute. And more…

Happy holidays!

Robbie LaFleur

Help support wonderful articles on Scandinavian textiles with a donation
to the Norwegian Textile Letter. Thank you! Tusen takk! 

The November Nordic News and Notes Column: A Focus on Bunads

Nordic News and Notes (November 2023): Bunads

Dear Norwegian Textile Letter friends,

I was putting together a list of new Scandinavian textile things to watch and read, and noticed a recently aired webinar on Norwegian bunads by Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum. I listened to it and it was clear how excited the audience was during the presentation. The moderator scrambled to keep up with the questions and comments, and the speaker, Barbro Storlien, seemed surprised at the number of questions flowing in following her talk. Clearly there is a lot of interest in Norwegian costume in the U.S.

My notes on that webinar are followed by links to two articles and a Nasjonalmuseet exhibit description, all about bunads. While interest in historical bunads remains strong, the tradition is changing and evolving. It all makes for thought-provoking reading and watching!

Nordic News and Notes (November 2023): Bunads

Are you a Norwegian-American?  If so, could you answer this short survey?

To help a curator at the Nationalmuseet in Oslo, Norway, would you answer a few brief questions? Please answer by December 10. Unless you want to add extended comments, this should take two minutes. Thank you! Click here.

Forward this on to any other Norwegian-Americans you might know.

Finally, 

Thank you to everyone who helps support the Norwegian Textile Letter with donations to cover expenses. Your financial support is crucial and very much appreciated. Thank you for being a subscriber! 

Robbie LaFleur

Here is the easy-to-use link to donate:

Norwegian Textile Letter: Out from Isolation, and into the World

It’s worth celebrating the fact that we are no longer isolated at our looms and tethered only to classes via zoom. A full seven articles in the new issue of the Norwegian Textile Letter describe post-pandemic travel and study in person – to Norway, Sweden, and Iceland.

The biennial Vesterheim Textile tour was cancelled once, but resumed this year with a trip to England and Norway. Edi Thorstensson wrote, “How precarious it felt, for some of us, to venture overseas after the pandemic, to take a chance that all would be safe and good.” And it was all good! Read: “From England to Norway: The 2023 Vesterheim Textile Study Tour.”

astruptunet

Kitchen interior and view to the water at Astruptunet.

Eight lucky Minnesota weavers spent a beautiful week in May learning Norwegian weaving techniques under the guidance of master teacher Ingebjørg Monsen. Read: “Bergen Husflidslag: Finding the Pleasure in Weaving.” Peg Hanson spent late nights at the loom as she wove (and sometimes unwove) a wool blanket. See: “Burning the Midnight Oil in Bergen.”

Two weavers designed personal study agendas in Sweden. Christine Novotny concentrated on “Rölakan Rug weaving in Sweden” with master weaver Ulla Parkdal. Nancy Gossell planned concentrated weaving at a traditional Swedish Vävstugo. Read: “A Weaver’s Dream: The Weaving House in Tyngsryd.”

So many looms at the vävstugo, and Nancy Gossll used several of them.

Icelandic landscape was a factor in two articles. During Rebecca Mezoff’s weaving residency in Iceland, she interpreted an Icelandic black sand beach in tapestry. See “Spinning and Weaving in Iceland.” Nancy Ebner’s nature-viewing trip to Iceland proved that every trip can be a textile tour. She shares her museum visit in “A Visit to the Icelandic Textile Museum.”

You’ll find even more to read in “Nordic News and Notes: October 2023.” How can you resist a tale of “Kleptokatta Siri,” who has an affinity for wool?

Thank you to everyone who helps support the Norwegian Textile Letter with donations to cover expenses. Your financial support is crucial; an end-of-the-year donation would be much appreciated. Thank you for being a subscriber. 

Robbie LaFleur

Click on the image for an easy link to donate. Tusen takk!

 

The Norwegian Textile Letter, October 2023, is Out

Norwegian Textile Letter, Volume 29, Number 2, October 2023

Weaving is trendy! Have you heard about the recent “Mette-Marit effect” in Norway? Read: “Crown Princess Mette Marit Became a Weaving Student – And Now There are Full Weaving Courses and Waiting Lists.”

The tapestry has been given a place of honor in her office at the palace. Photo: Eskil Wie Furunes/NRK

New Fiction and Historical Norwegian Tapestries 

Norwegian author Lars Mytting wove the legend of the Hekne sisters, conjoined twins who were master weavers in Gudbrandsdalen, into his Sister Bells trilogy of novels. Book one is The Bell in the Lake, followed by the The Reindeer Hunters. The third book has been published in Norway as Skråpånatta, and will be available in translation soon.

You can listen to a Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum bokprat [book talk] on The Bell in the Lake with Lars Mytting and Dr. Maren Johnson on YouTube.

Marianne Vedeler, Professor in Archaeology at the Museum of Cultural History, University of Oslo, has been studying the legend. See: “Tales of Magical Weavers Keep a Medieval Tapestry Tradition Alive.” Although no one has found tangible evidence that the conjoined Hekne sisters actually existed, researching this legend reveals a great deal about how tapestries fit into a rich storytelling tradition. And weavers have power! 

“In stories from the Middle Ages, weavers are not simply visual story tellers. They often have magical capabilities that can change the course of history. They can see into the future, but also cause ill fortune and sickness, rob people of their wits and strength, open mountains and grave mounds, and even commit murder.”

Marianne Vedeler examined the Hekne sisters, visual storytelling through tapestry, and legends about the powers of weavers in “Gudbrandsdalen Tapestries and the Story of the Hekne Sisters.” The article, from Viking: Norsk Arkeologisk Aarbok [Viking: Norwegian Archaeological Yearbook], Vol. 86, No. 1, 2022, is translated and reprinted with permission.

Katherine (Kay) Larson translated this important article (which stretches to 20 pages in the accompanying pdf version, 26 with the literature list). It was a long job to translate, and tricky to get just right, but also enjoyable. Kay wrote,

Marianne Vedeler’s thoughtful article on the tapestries of Gudbrandsdalen has been a pleasure to translate.  Like many who have studied these textiles, I have focused on their practical and artistic elements, but Vedeler casts a far wider net. Certainly they were used as coverlets, but other possibilities are explored, and each new angle from which Vedeler views the tradition adds depth to our understanding of the time in which they were created, and to their place in a tradition of visual imagery and oral storytelling that stretches back to the Viking Age. One can easily imagine the flickering light of a fire bringing the figures in a tapestry to life, while storytellers regaled their audience with well-known tales.

Learn about a Historical Fiber Craft

Karen Keenan is helping to revive the almost forgotten art form of Swedish hairwork jewelry in the Midwest and beyond. Read: “Swedish Hairwork.” Karen noted, “While it may seem strange, using human hair to make jewelry was once as widely practiced as embroidery, knitting or crocheting is today. In fact, the contemporary practice of keeping hair from a child’s first haircut may be an example of hairwork’s 19th century residual effect.” Learn a bit about the history of hairwork, and how it is done.

hair work crown

Hairwork crown made by Karen Keenan for an exhibit at the Nordic Center in Duluth, Minnesota, 2021

Folk Dress – Historical and Still Evolving

In a review of the book, Dressing With Purpose: Belonging and Resistance in Scandinavia, contributing authors explore the history, preservation, and evolution of folk dress in Sweden (folkdräkt), Norway (bunad), and Sámi (gákti).

Sami Winter Market in Jåhkåmåhkke

Thank you for reading — feel free to forward this notice to any friends who would be interested. The other special section of this Norwegian Textile Letter issue, on post-pandemic travel to and classes in Scandinavia, will be highlighted in a separate post.

Thank you to everyone who helps support the Norwegian Textile Letter with donations to cover expenses. Your financial support is crucial; an end-of-the-year donation would be much appreciated. Thank you for being a subscriber. 

Robbie LaFleur

Click on the image for an easy link to donate. Tusen takk!

 

Beautiful Fall in New England and a Chance to see Frida Hansen’s Southward Tapestry

By Robbie LaFleur

East Coast friends! Please join me for a wonderful opportunity to view Frida Hansen’s monumental 1903 tapestry, Sørover [Southward], at Peter Pap Oriental Rugs in Dublin, New Hampshire. An exhibition and sale of rugs from private collections will be held at the gallery this coming weekend, with opening festivities (including a jazz band!) on Friday, September 29th. The show is timed for peak leaf season, a perfect time to visit Peter Pap’s extensive collections, only an hour and a half from Boston.

Frida Hansen’s tapestry will be a highlight. As Peter Pap wrote in his newsletter,

Many of you already know the amazing story of my discovery of the monumental tapestry by Norwegian artist Frida Hansen entitled Sørover in the collection of the late David McInnis. Now it is back in our Dublin, NH, gallery after hanging at LACMA and the Milwaukee Art Museum in the exhibition Scandinavian Design in America: 1890 to 1980. This exhibition originated in Oslo, Norway and my discovery hadn’t been made at the time of printing of the catalogue so they devoted a full page with a black and white photo from 1925!

Frida Hansen, Sørover [Southward], 1903

I will hold a lecture on Frida Hansen and the wonderful tapestry of swimming swans and maidens on Saturday at 4pm. The Norse mythology image is of swans and maidens sailing southward after bringing summer to the northern lands. My stories will focus on what happened after the swans “swam” to America – exhibitions in New York and around the country, its disappearance, and rediscovery. The best part of attending this lecture will be the opportunity afterwards to ask questions and walk right up to the tapestry to understand its beauty and structure.

Reservations are not needed, but I’d love to know if you are coming. (lafleur1801@me.com) You can review the articles on Frida Hansen and the rediscovered tapestry here: norwegiantextileletter.com/sorover/

In addition to the lecture, I will hold an Instagram Live session at 2 pm on Saturday, September 30, with Southward as the special guest. Please ask questions about the tapestry, request to see a close-up of any sections of the image (except those I can’t reach ten feet up on the wall), and share your comments and observations.

And the Rugs!

Peter Pap will be offering rugs from the collections of noted collectors. Featured will be the remainder of the late Dr. Charles Whitfield’s collection, including his exceptional group of Baluch rugs. Rugs and classical fragments from the collection of the late Dirck Bass of Guernville, California are included. Rugs from the collection of Thomas Edwards of Rhonert Park, California, are another outstanding addition to this exhibition. All these the offerings are new to the market. Some of these rugs were in a landmark exhibition called “Tribal Visions” that took place in Marin County, California, in 1980.

Rugs in the show will be featured on Peter Pap’s website, peterpap.com, and on his Instagram feed, @peterpaprugs, on the days preceding the show.

It would be wonderful to see you here next weekend, at this gorgeous gallery, but with even prettier leaves surrounding it. If you can’t make it, check out the Instagram Live feed at 2 pm (eastern time) on Saturday, September 30, @robbie_lafleur. Follow my blog at robbielafleur.com for ongoing news about my Frida Hansen research.