Archives

Vesterheim Exhibition Gallery

These are the woven items entered in the 33rd Annual Exhibit of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition.  You can click on any photo to see a larger version.  Once any photo is in the large size, you can scroll through the items, all in larger size.

Finnish Ryijy Rugs at the American Swedish Institute

ASI-rya

“Etude Two,” by Katri Haahti. (2005) This study is a tiny piece, only 14 x 13 centimeters.

From May 31 to November 2, 2014, textiles fill the mansion of the American Swedish Institute.   The exhibit, The Living Tradition of Ryijy – Finnish Rugs and their Makers,  highlights Finnish rugs of the past 300 years, from early utilitarian pile rugs to wedding rugs filled with auspicious symbols, to mid-century abstract designs, and even a modern piece with hair bands and a bra strap woven in.

Collecting magnificent rijiy is the post-retirement passion of Dr. Toumas Sopanen, a former plant physiologist and biochemist.  He began with five pieces, purchased for his home.  After Dr. Sopanen purchased about 25 ryijy rugs, a local museum mounted an exhibit of his collection.  “I almost cried when I saw how beautiful they were,” he said.  It spurred his collecting, and he now owns 390, almost all purchased from auctions.  He became increasingly interested in the historical development of ryijy, which is considered the national craft of Finland, and in 2008, along with Leena Willberg, published The Ryijy-Rug Lives On: Finnish Ryijy-Rugs 1778-2008.

IMG_7196Dr. Sopanen visited Minneapolis for the opening of the exhibit.  He spent his first day up close with his collection, combing the pieces.   The ryijiys are rolled on tubes for transport between exhibits, he explained, smashing down the pile. His special textile tool?  An everyday hairbrush.

While combing, he told me a story of the difficulty of having textiles cleaned.  When he had the piece he is combing in this photo (“Penguin,” by Lea Eskola, 1962) professionally cleaned, it came back ruined.  All the dirt had been pulled up from the base and sat in the top ten percent of each strand.  It looked worse after the cleaning than before. A friend of his rescued it by painstakingly separating the strands of each knot and pulling off the dirt.  Hundreds and thousands of strands, Tuomas emphasized.

IMG_0479At an opening night tour, Dr. Sopanen enthusiastically described his collection, or at least the 42 rugs that hang throughout the ASI – in galleries, in a doorway, and even over bookcase glass.  We began in the Nelson Gallery on the lower level of the ASI, where his earliest pieces, dating back to the late 1700s, are beautifully displayed.  including one on an antique bed and another on a sleigh. Ryijys dating before 1750 don’t exist for a number of reasons: they may have been worn and thrown out, or buried with their owners, or destroyed in a time of pestilence.

The Nordic ryijy tradition dates from the time of the Vikings, but their exact origin is unknown – perhaps the Viking saw Coptic textiles with a similar structure in Ireland or Egypt. The basic structure is exactly the same as Oriental carpets, but with only about ten percent of the knots, and longer pile.

Ryijys were used on boats up to modern times, as the woven textiles with warm pile wouldn’t stiffen in salt water like animal hides. It’s difficult to find an old Finnish boat ryijy; Dr. Sopanen just purchased his first boat ryijy, dated 1814.

From the 1400s on, ryijys used as bed coverings were recorded for both the wealthy and the servant class.  The quality and decoration varied depending on social class.  When rijiys became popular as wedding textiles, the imagery became more complex.  Protective symbols, brides, and birds of happiness appeared.  They commonly included initials and the year.

IMG_0499

Detail of a wedding ryijy from 1798

IMG_1594

A wedding ryijy from around 1800. It features a tree of life, one of the most popular wedding symbols.

In old ryijys used as bedcovers, a narrow band was often woven at the head end.  People didn’t wash so much in those days, Tuomas noted, so you might not want to rest your head in the same spot as unwashed feet.  In the 1800s, when ryijys served more ceremonial and decorative functions, the tradition of the narrow band persisted.

A beautiful piece with this narrow band is hanging from a free-standing frame at the ASI.  Both sides have pile, and both the decorative side and the largely white side are visible. You can see that the top bar tilts at an angle in order to keep the sides of the ryijy hanging straight.  That didn’t surprise one tour participant, Craig Rasmussen, Exhibits Director for the Joan Mondale Gallery at the Textile Center of Minnesota.  “I can tell you after hanging many handmade rectangles – they are never square,” he commented.

IMG_1587

Scale surface bedcover ryijy for two persons. Turn of the 18th and 19th centuries.

IMG_1588Older ryijys can be divided in two groups: upper-class ryijys woven by professional weavers, with shading and sharper detail in the images; and folk ryijys—simple and naive, with broad borders, one color in each object, and clumsy letters and numbers (because the weavers were largely illiterate).

Sleeping under ryijiys stopped in about the 1820s. Through the rest of the century, they were more commonly used as daytime bed covers.

Dr. Sopanen talked about the beautiful, lustrous wool colored with plant-based dyes used in earlier pieces. In the later 1800s, newly-available analine dyes in bright colors were used, but the bright colors weren’t colorfast over the years.

In the late 1800s many ryijy weavers used motifs from cross stitch or embroidery patterns from Germany and Sweden. There was a loss of creativity in the images.  Also around this time they moved from bed covers and began to be hung on walls.

IMG_1598Two events help popularize ryijys widely early in the twentieth century.  A large exhibit in at a gallery in Helsinki in 1918, and a detailed study of ryijy in 1924 by U.T. Sirelius, educated Finns about the cultural and historical importance of the craft. By the 1930 almost all Finns wanted to own a ryijy.  In addition to woven ryijys, kits became available.  They included woven backing, a design, and wool to tie the knots.  Dr. Sopanen made one of the pieces in the exhibit from a kit, “Zebra One” by Eva Brummer.  He listened to music while tying knots, 250 hours in all.  “One row is about three piano sonatas,” he said.

IMG_7514The ASI mansion is a perfect venue for many of the pieces. Often, when the installation offers a distant view of a piece, the beauty and subtlety of the yarn combinations shine.  When seen close-up, you notice there are several red shades in “By the Midsummer Bonfires” by Eila-Annikki Vesimaa (designed in 1956).  When you back up, the flames of the bonfire shimmer.

IMG_1607

IMG_1606Around 1980 artists began to experiment with varying lengths, creating relief. The piece may vary from the standard rectangular shape and in the use of materials, adding linen and other fibers.  Tenka issakainen, in “Rose-coloured Ryijy,” (2006) even added artificial flowers, elastic lace, and a bra strap.

Dr. Sopanen feels there is renewed interest in ryijy in Finland today. Young couples are having wedding ryijys commissioned.  Contemporary artists are interpreting the technique in new ways. If you visit this exhibit, you’ll understand the resurgence of ryijy.

Robbie LaFleur, July 2014

 

 

 

 

National Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition, 2013

By Laurann Gilbertson

Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum’s National Exhibition of Folk Art in the Norwegian Tradition was on view in Decorah, Iowa, from June 11 to July 27, 2013.   The exhibition, which also includes woodworking, knifemaking, and rosemaling (decorative painting), attracted more than 3,400 visitors.

Weavers sent traditional and contemporary interpretations of Norwegian weaves.  Judges wrote constructive comments and awarded ribbons.  The judges were Marta Kløve Juuhl, a weaver from Arna, Norway, and Linda Elkins, former Instructor of Art at Luther College and a weaver from Decorah, Iowa.

Entries in the Traditional category followed the historical tradition in technique, colors, and materials.  Entries could also be adaptations of old weavings.  In this category, a Blue Ribbon went to Sandra Somdahl (Decorah, IA) for “Fall Morning” Wall Hanging in krokbragd technique.

"Fall Morning" by Sandra Somdahl (Photo: Charlie Langton)

“Fall Morning” by Sandra Somdahl (Photo: Vesterheim staff)

A Red Ribbon went to Donna Laken (Rockford, IL) for “Crooked Path Blues” Rug in krokbragd technique.

208 Laken sm

“Crooked Path Blues” by Donna Laken (Photo: Vesterheim staff)

A White Ribbon went to Betty Rikansrud Nelson (Decorah, IA) for Table Runner in doubleweave technique.

"Table Runner in Doubleweave Technique" by Betty Rikansrud Nelson.  (Photo: Charlie Langton)

“Table Runner in Doubleweave Technique” by Betty Rikansrud Nelson (Photo: Vesterheim staff)

Honorable Mentions were awarded to Sharon Marquardt (Henning, MN) for a West Coast-style wall hanging and to Keith Pierce (Lauderdale, MN) for a Sami-style band.

"West Coast Wall Hanging" by Sharon Marquardt.  (Photo: Charlie Langton)

“West Coast Wall Hanging” by Sharon Marquardt (Photo: Vesterheim staff)

"Sami Band" by Keith Pierce (Photo: Charlie Langton)

“Sami Band” by Keith Pierce (Photo: Vesterheim staff)

Entries in the Contemporary category showed a contemporary departure from the historical tradition in technique or colors or materials.  Some elements still identified the pieces as being within the Norwegian weaving tradition.  In this category, Blue Ribbons went to Jane Connett (Roseville, MN) for “Bookmarks in Krokbragd Technique” and to Patty Kuebker Johnson (Roberts, WI) for “Exploring Drawloom” wall hanging.

204 Connett sm

“Bookmarks in Krokbragd Technique” by Jane Connett. (Photo: Vesterheim staff)

"Exploring Drawloom" by Patty Keubker-Johnson (Photo: Charlie Langton)

“Exploring Drawloom” by Patty Kuebker-Johnson (Photo: Vesterheim staff)

Veronna Capone (Brookings, SD) received two Red Ribbon, for “Centerpiece in Monksbelt Technique” and “Centerpiece,” a runner in turned monksbelt technique.

"Centerpiece" by Veronna Capone (Photo : Charlie Langton)

“Centerpiece” by Veronna Capone (Photo : Vesterheim staff)

No White Ribbons were awarded.  Honorable Mentions went to Nancy Ellison (Zumbrota, MN) for “The Farmer’s Sheep” wall wanging in krokbragd and rya techniques and to Judy Ann Ness (Eugene, OR) for “Celestial Navigation: The Journey Home,”  a wall hanging in krokbragd technique.

"The Farmer's Sheep" by Nancy Ellison (Photo: Charlie Langton)

“The Farmer’s Sheep” by Nancy Ellison (Photo: Vesterheim staff)

"Celestial Navigation: The Journey Home" by Judy Ness. (Photo: Charlie Langton)

“Celestial Navigation: The Journey Home” by Judy Ness (Photo: Vesterheim staff)

The Best of Show weaving was Jane Connett’s “Bookmarks.”  Visitors to the exhibition voted for their favorite weaving to receive a People’s Choice award.  They chose Donna Laken’s “Crooked Path Blues” rug.

As weavers win ribbons they accumulate points toward a Gold Medal.  Blue Ribbon = 3 points, Red Ribbon = 2 points, White Ribbon = 1 point.  After a weaver accumulates 8 points, he/she is awarded a Gold Medal.  With their ribbons this year, Veronna Capone and Betty Rikansrud Nelson received Gold Medals in Weaving.

Consider sending a piece or two for next year’s exhibition.  The deadline for entries will be May 23, 2014.  You can find Official Rules and Guidelines online, or if you prefer that a copy of the rules be mailed to you, contact me by phone or email.

Laurann Gilbertson has been Textile Curator at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum for 19 years and is now Chief Curator.

lgilbertson (at) vesterheim.org, 563-382-9681

(Editor’s note:  Read more about Veronna Capone’s weaving and her gold medal here.)