Scandinavian Textiles: Articles, Exhibits, News
Websites
Ragnheiður Björk Þórsdóttir shared a link on Facebook: “I’m now mostly finished a weaving database that I’ve been working on for the past four years at the Icelandic Textile Center. It’s mostly Icelandic, but also in English. The handwritten data is actually partly in Norwegian and Swedish, if you can read the old script 
” https://gagnagrunnur.textilmidstod.is/en/weaving. One beautiful section is “Old Drawings and sketches for Weaving.”
If you have a lot of discretionary income to purchase beautiful rugs, or you are looking for inspiration to weave your own Scandinavian-inspired rug, check out the site of F J Hakimian, a rug dealer in New York. See especially these categories: Scandinavian flat weave, Scandinavian Pile, and 20th Century Wall Hangings and Tapestries.
Shown: A Swedish flat weave rug designed by Agda Österberg. Thank you to Anne Whidden with the Swedish Rug Blog for alerting me to this resource.
Upcoming Zoom Lecture
“From Kindness to Cutting Satire: Lila Nelson’s Tapestries Embraced the World and Its Politics.” A Conversation with Robbie LaFleur. September 22, 2020 (7:30-8:30PM CDT) Details here. Many people in the Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum community remember Lila Nelson as the long-time Textile Curator. Many weavers remember Lila as a skilled instructor and incredible mentor. A slide-filled lecture on September 22, 2020, will focus on Lila Nelson as an artist. Her tapestries reflect her irrepressible personality, her engagement with the world around her, and, not least, her political commentary.
Lila’s true talent was her ability to depict many facets of life with complete sincerity. She wove a girl on a swing in pigtails, expressing joy in a single moment in life. In another tapestry, two Inuit women are embracing in friendship—you sense their love and communication. Yet she also wove a tortured prisoner hanging on a prison wall, with frightening faceless prison guards on either side. And she wove cats with machine guns! She used humor to point out the emphasis on terror that was making people feel fearful.
This time of pandemic and political unrest is a perfect time to review Lila Nelson’s enduring art and wonder, “What would Lila be weaving now?”
Articles
The Norwegian-American newspaper recently included an article on the exhibit currently showing at Norway House in Minneapolis, “Weaving Together Past and Present: The Baldishol Tapestry Inspires a New Generation of Artists at Norway House.”
The exhibit is open until the end of September. Book a visit or see all the pieces virtually at: www.norwayhouse.org/baldishol-virtual-tour