Nordic News & Notes: November 2021

Scandinavian Textiles: Articles, Exhibits, News

This list includes several of the items sent out in a special between-issue email (in case you missed them).

Podcast

Laurann Gilbertson, Curator at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, was featured on the “Long Thread Podcast” from Piecework Magazine. She discusses Norwegian textiles, items in the Vesterheim collection, and also reflects on how individuals should value and maintain their own family textiles. Long Thread Podcast: Laurann Gilbertson.

Vesterheim Exhibit Virtual Tour

The current exhibit at Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum, Socially Distanced, Creatively Connected: A Special Juried Folk Art Exhibition Highlighting Pandemic Creativity, was featured in the last issue of the Norwegian Textile Letter. (Textiles in the show were highlighted.) As a wonderful review for those of you who saw it, or as a preview for those who might get there before the end of 2021, the museum created a virtual gallery tour. It’s an interesting short film. Rather than straight documentation, piece by piece, the camera pans around the room, focusing in on exquisite details.

Videos

Scandinavian Textile Videos for Students–and Everyone Else

Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum staff worked with the Iowa Council for the Arts on a professional development project for folk artists this summer. Successful grant applicants participated in online workshops to learn best practices in teaching online, and then created either history or how-to videos that could be used in Iowa schools to help students learn about various folk crafts. Several of the artists worked in textiles. Learn finger weaving with Laura Demuth! Learn Hardangersøm with Shan Rayray. Learn about the iconic Wise and Foolish Virgins image in Norwegian tapestry with Robbie LaFleur. See the full list.

Arne and Carlos Visit Setesdal

The well-known Norwegian knitters Arne & Carlos featured textiles in Setesdal on their Youtube channel during September. All of their interviews in the “Norwegian Craft Traditions – A Guide to Setesdal” series were both charming and in-depth.

Annemor Sundbø was featured on September 5 and 19. Many Norwegian Textile Letter readers know her work well–as a knitting teacher, embroidery instructor, dyeing teacher, knitting historian, and wonderful lecturer. She has contributed to several issues of the NTL over the years: Norwegian Tapestry in the Post-War Years, Norwegian Tapestry: Historical Weaving Treasures and National Romantic Impulses, Nettles – For Clothing and Much More , Norway’s Recent “Knitting War” of Words , and A Rag Pile, My Lot in Life.

You won’t want to miss the episodes with Karin Bøe, who was featured on the 16th and 26th. Karin recently wrote Red is the Finest Color We Have: On Color in Coverlet Weaving in Setesdal around 1900 for the Norwegian Textile Letter. I also wrote about coverlets in Setesdal with Karin’s help for Selvedge Magazine. Read that article here. (Karin also posts the most gorgeous photos of nature in Setesdal on her Instagram site–I highly recommend it. boe_karin)

Studio Visit: John K. Raustein

Norwegian Crafts features textile artist John K. Raustein in a new video. From the description: “John K. Raustein (b. 1972) is a textile artist based in Oslo, Norway. In his practice, he investigates relationships between invisibility, exclusion, privilege and resistance, and explores the textile tradition’s many possibilities – materially, conceptually and sculpturally.” He began his career with a series of embroidered works depicting tools. His work is largely installation-based now. He says in the film, “When you enter a room, you know what’s going to be there, almost every time… I want to give it a kind of surprise for the viewer.” In his exhibit at the Oslo Public Library Deichman, even though the installation was put in order each morning, parts were rearranged by noon. That makes him happy, that people are interacting with his work.