Norwegian Folk Art: The Migration of a Tradition was an exhibition curated by Marion Nelson from Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum, in collaboration with the Museum of American Folk Art in New York City and the Norwegian Folk Museum in Oslo. The exhibition of 180 objects was a collection of folk art either made in Norway, brought to America from Norway by immigrants, made by immigrants in America or created by contemporary artists in the Norwegian folk art tradition. The exhibition opened at the Museum of American Folk Art in New York in September of 1995. King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway attended the opening, part of their first state visit to the U.S. A lavishly illustrated book with several invited essays was published in conjunction with the exhibit.
The exhibit then traveled for two years to The State Historical Society of North Dakota in Bismark, the Minnesota Museum of American Art in St Paul, the Nordic Heritage Museum in Seattle and ended at the Norwegian Folk Museum in Oslo.
The exhibition included a wide span of folk art types—rosemaling (traditional Norwegian rose painting, wood carving. Textiles were well-represented, with beautiful examples of historical weaving and contemporary pieces to show how the tradition continued in the United States. Since most readers of the Norwegian Textile Letter didn’t attend the exhibition, and probably not many have seen the book, we obtained permission to reprint the photographic sections on geometric weaving and tapestry weaving, and the essay on folk dress by Carol Colburn.
Geometric Textiles of the 18th and 19th Centuries
See the 11-page beautifully-illustrated section here. https://norwegiantextileletter.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/migration-geometric.pdf
Here is a bit more background about two of the weavers who wove modern pieces for the exhibit.
Rutevev, a square-weave coverlet, by Jan Mostrom
Jan Mostrom wrote that she was happy to be chosen as one of the contemporary weavers.
It was a rutevev weaving inspired by a coverlet I saw at Little Norway near my home town in Wisconsin. It is a nine cross pattern which I combined with a diamond made of many diagonal lines and a cross in the center. I chose Norwegian yarns that I imagined were close to rather bright natural dyed colors in red, blue, green, gold and natural white. The design had many color changes and many pattern rows had over 50 butterflies. It would take a generous hour to weave half an inch. The main geometric pattern was bordered by pick and pick stripes and lightning designs. I remember listening to many audio books as I wove in the rhythm of interlocked blocks.
It was very exciting for me to go to New York City for the first time and to be going to an opening of a show that included a piece of my work. The event was fun and exciting and all of the artists were invited to a dinner at a nearby restaurant after the opening.
When the exhibition was in St Paul for three months, the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group set up a loom to weave krokbragd at the museum. We would demonstrate every Sunday. I have happy memories of several afternoons weaving and talking with people visiting the exhibit.
Skillbragd coverlet by Liv Bugge
Liv Bugge, born in Norway, and now living in Norway again, had a beautiful skillbragd weaving in the exhibit. Liv has been interested in folk art, including for dancing, embroidery, and knitting, since she was a teen. She first learned to weave at teacher’s college in Oslo. When she moved to Wisconsin for several years, she continued her weaving exploration. She wrote,
Studying and reading about different Norwegian techniques was extremely important because I was so far away from home and yet surrounded by so much Norwegian heritage.”
“When we were living in the US I had plenty of time to weave, and I found this “skillbragd” technique very interesting. I studied a lot of books and also old magazines from Norsk Husflid, so I’m more or less self taught in this technique while living in Wisconsin. Everything Norwegian got very important to me then, which I’m sure was the case for many of the immigrants.”
Liv wove several hangings in the traditional skillbragd technique.
Liv and her husband moved back to Norway, where she studied weaving again for a year, before returning to elementary school teaching for 15 years. “I now have a very nice studio with a stunning view of the mountains including Mount Gausta,” Liv reported. The skillbragd hanging from the exhibition still hangs in her office.