Editor’s note:  Dorthe Herup’s tapestry, “Messelt,” was chosen this year for inclusion in the prestigious annual art show in Norway, the Høstutstilling (the Fall Exhibition). This article on Herup and her tapestry appeared in the online magazine Billedkunst (Visual Art), published by Norsk Billedkunstnere (The Association of Norwegian Visual Artists) on September 26, 2019.

Hedda Grevle Ottesen in Conversation with Dorthe Herup

When someone weaves, they have a genuine opportunity to feel time, and experience how exciting history can be, says Dorthe Herup.

At Holmestrand station I was warmly greeted by textile artist Dorthe Herup (born in 1953 in Ærø, Denmark). We drove from the center of Holmestrand out toward pasture land, where fallow deer and Muflon sheep grazed. Here at the Marienborg family farm Herup and the artist Morten Juvet have a working farm and their studios. Ever since the Danish Herup completed her degree at Bergen Kunsthåndverkskole in 1978, much of her career has been outside Norway, even though she has lived most of her life in Norway. 

Herup moved to Norway in 1973 and worked for [noted tapestry weaver] Else Marie Jakobsen in Kristiansand before she began to study in Oslo at Statens Håndverks- og Kunstindustriskole (the National Handcraft and Industrial Art School). Herup has participated in large textile exhibitions, such as the Beijing International Fiberart Biennale Exhibition and the Biennale Internazionale di fiber art in Italy. This is the third time Herup’s work is in the Høstutstilling.

Herup has an engaging presence. Over coffee she showed me photos from the early 1900s, photographs that have inspired her tapestries. Like “Benken” from 2018, which depicts Danish sailors from her childhood—sailors who told tales from around the world, if you took the time to listen. She recited stories of her relatives’ histories, showing knowledge of earlier generations. She showed wonder at their ordinary lives, which unmistakably resemble our own today. 

After a wide-ranging conversation on the role of textile art today, we wandered across the yard to Juvet and Herup’s two studios. Light came in through a balcony with a view of the fjord. On the other side of the room was a remarkably large weaving. The tapestry was used for interior décor under the auspices of the City of Oslo in 2014. The 3 x 6 meter woven scene hangs in the foyer of Fernanda Nissens School in Storo. The feminist Fernanda Nissen stands on the right side of the tapestry with the National Theater and Bjørnstjerne Bjørnsen in the background. The left side of the tapestry depicts matchstick workers on strike. The dramatic scene of the tapestry is an example of how Herup relates political aspects to young people. 

In connection with my visit Dorthe hung the large tapestry in wool about the bear hunter Ole Olsen Messelt (1776-1869), “Messelt,” (145 x 110 cm) from 2018.  The weaving is impressionistic: looked at closely, it appears to have planes of horizontal color changes; at a distance, the palette seems to be brown tones. This is a conscious technique to create association with old photographs, she says. Herup dyes the wool yarn herself. While I studied the tapestry, Dorthe told me the remarkable tale of the bear hunter. 

 

The Conversation: Hedda Grevle Ottesen and Dorthe Herup

Hedda Grevle Ottesen (HGO) : You have a genuine interest in history, especially family history.  Where does that come from? 

Dorthe Herup (DH): History is what generally occupies me in my designs. I am interested in people of the future, and people who came before us. Especially after my children had children of their own, my interest in family history has grown. I study family trees, learn about family history and hope to give a face to all these people I get to know through this work. I want to know as much as possible about these people I weave; what they were like, what they cared about, and what their values are. 

HGO: Each year the Høstutstilling desires to comment on contemporary tendencies. How do you see yourself in this aspect? 

DH: I was actually surprised that precisely this work was chosen.  It is a type of  work that looks backward more than forward. 

HGO: I think it is understandable that the tapestry was chosen. Our language is taken from a past that is fundamental to a common understanding today. Through attention to history, as you said earlier, we obtain a broader view of the present. 

DH: Oh, I absolutely agree: that the present is anchored in history. Today everything happens on a screen. Information travels quickly, and we seldom look back. We have less time to talk together than before, when people related their histories to younger generations. Today young people grow up with the belief that so much must happen at once, and they forget to think about where we came from. When you weave, you have a genuine opportunity to feel time passing, and experience how exciting history can be. I am interested in people of the future, and people who have lived. 

HGO: Tell us more about the tapestry in the exhibition. 

DH: It was originally commissioned by the great-great-great grandchild of the bear hunter Messelt, and I borrowed it for the exhibition. It took five months to weave, but because I took time to research the figures in the portrait, it’s difficult to know exactly how many hours the work took in total. In the photograph on which the tapestry is based, two elderly people hold hands. It is Messelt and his wife Sigrid Torgalsdatter. I borrowed the photograph from the collection of the Folk Museum. I liked the way they held each other’s hands; it shows how connected they were. They had ten children and ran their farm for 34 years. They lost their eldest son, who would have inherited the farm, in a drowning accident when he was crossing a rapid stream, to the great sorrow of Messelt and Torgalsdatter. There is a seriousness in their eyes. I would say that is the most important thing in my work—to create a relationship to the people I depict, which becomes an emotional expression of history. 

HG: What is it that makes the bear hunter such a compelling figure?

DH: Messelt is a famous person in Norwegian cultural history and there are many accounts of his life. He was a very skilled bear hunter at a time when there was a bounty on bears. On the right side you see his gun, which today hangs in the Norwegian  Skogsmuseum (Forest Museum) in Elverum. In retrospect I see he is also relevant today, for example in Jon Michelet’s books on the wartime sailor Halvor Skramstad, Skogsmatrosen (October Publishing House, 2012–2018). The bears you see in the tapestry also have different personalities, which I tried to depict. In the time it took to weave “Messelt,” I became well acquainted with each bear. All bears are different. 

Dorthe Herup (born in 1953 in Ærø, Denmark) lives in Holmestrand,  She was trained at Kolding Kunsthåndverkskole (Kolding Handcraft School, Sydjylland, Denmark), Statens Håndverks- og kunstindustriskole (National School of Handwork and Industrial Arts (OSLO), and og Bergen Kunsthåndverkskole (Bergen Art and Handcraft School). Among many exhibits, she has had solo shows at the Nord-Trøndelag Fylkesgalleri and Galleri Galleberg in Tønsberg. She has participated in the Høstutstillingen several times, the Norske Kunsthåndverkeres Årsutstilling (Norwegian Association for Arts and Crafts Annual Craft Exhibition), the Artapestry exhibition under the auspices of the European Tapestry Forum, and a series of international biennial and triennial exhibits with a focus on textile art. Recently she had a solo exhibit, “Benken,” at the Marstal Søfartsmuseum (Marstal Shipping Museum) in Ærø, Denmark from July to September, 2019.