By Hilde Opedal Nordby, Handweaver and Weaving Instructor

On November 1-3, 2019, I attended the Norges Husflidslag (Norwegian Folk Art and Craft  Association) Weaving Symposium, held every three years, this time in Tromsø. Around 150 people assembled for three eventful days. Norges Husflidslag is a cultural and interest organization that is a leading actor in the preservation of culture and traditional handcrafts in Norway. The organization was founded in 1910 and has 24,000 members throughout the country.  Weaving is a central focus, and the organization has its own council for weaving. There is a great deal of weaving activity in Husflid groups around the country where over 1000 people participate in courses annually. 

The Weaving Symposium was held at the Tromsø University Museum with opening ceremonies at the Tromsø Library.  The University Museum is situated in a beautiful spot on the southern tip of Tromsøya [the island on which the city lies]. The library is in the center of Tromsø and is a popular city meeting place.  Many passers-by had a chance to participate in the opening, showing weaving to great advantage. It snowed each day and darkness approached with a magical dark blue shimmer around 4 pm, so our days were spent inside. 

The theme of the symposium was boundless diversity–in techniques, expression, and mingling with others. In Tromsø I was nearer to Finland, Sweden, and Russia than in the more southerly areas of Norway, and the northern counties have traditionally had closer relations to these countries. To come closer to the Sami legacy was wonderful and exciting to a “southerner” who has learned little about Sami culture. “Boundless diversity” in techniques was reflected in a variety of band weaving methods: the border of a weaving on a warp-weighted loom, rigid heddle-woven bands in a sea of variation, and bands woven on a round stick from Archangelsk were inspiring. The “boundless diversity” in expression was reflected in the presenters, who focused on everything from art weaving to weaving as a profession, textile research, reconstruction and a historical focus on the Sami heritage and their handcraft – douidji. I’ll list some of the high points of the symposium.

One of the most rewarding sessions for me was Sonja Vangen’s lecture on grene weaving; she is a living tradition-bearer with knowledge in her hands. Grene weaving is a tradition that has continued for centuries in Manndal, east of Tromsø. A grene is a thick, warm blanket woven on a grene loom [a warp-weighted loom]. A grene loom consists of two posts that lean against a wall, with a crosswise beam to which the warp is attached by sewing, with stones as weights. In contrast to other warp-weighted looms, plain stones are used as weights, not the typical warp weights in soapstone. Sonja told of collecting stones for a loom as a child, and the trick was to find stones of an equal weight which at the same time had an oblong form that were easy to attach with knots. The warp was wound by weaving with a heddle in a separate warping frame, where the weft becomes the warp for the grene loom. Every other thread is threaded through a half-heddle on a pick-up stick. Both the warp and weft are hand-spun. On Saturday Sonja Vangen demonstrated how a grene is woven. She learned to weave grene from her mother; everyone did when she was young. “You just had to,” she said. The weft should be thick and soft, traditionally spun on a spindle. The weft is still hand-spun, but now on a spinning wheel. Grene weavings functioned as blankets for the nomadic Sami and as tent coverings. The background color was always natural sheep white, with natural sheep dark color stripes; grey also appears. The use of color mirrored the coastal Sami’s flocks of sheep and the colors that naturally occurred. Only in more recent years has it become typical to include other colors in a grene. “Steinbittenner [Atlantic wolffish teeth] (a pattern in pick and pick technique) is commonly used in the bands.

Charlotte Engstad was another inspiring woman. She runs Stellaria and told what it is like to live as a hand weaver–the challenges she faces, what she weaves, and her attitude toward handwork. She holds a doctorate in biology, trained later as an adult and is now a master handweaver, one of the few so designated in Norway. She weaves bunad [folk costume] fabric, scarves, and interior textiles. She is the only one I know who weaves with a flying shuttle. Visit her website and be inspired! 

Åsa Elstad gave a presentation about a special textile find from Skjoldehamn on Andøya [the northernmost island in the Vesterålen archipelago, situated about 190 mi inside the Arctic circle]. A well-preserved costume dated from 1050-1100 was found in a bog; today it is Norway’s oldest textile. The costume consists of a jacket with a hat, shirt, pants, belt, and shoes. Who wore it, since it was too large for the skeleton with which it was found? Was the wearer Sami? A man or woman? We know nothing definitive. Kim Holte, a staff handworker at the Lofotr Viking Museum, holds courses in weaving a rigid heddle band from the costume.  At the symposium opening she wore her handsewn pants, which were a reconstruction of the pants from Skjoldehamn–and they worked remarkably well in a modern context. [Read more about the costume here.]

As a continuation on the theme of clothing traditions in the north, Torunn Sedolfsen lectured on weaving traditions in Troms. We were able to leaf through fantastic notebooks with her reconstructed fabrics from two fabric sample collections in the Tromsø Museum. It was a wonderful collection of clothing fabric, bed textiles, and everyday textiles produced in homes in Berg and Torsken on the island of Senja, representing a good deal of women’s history. This work is on its way to becoming a book. 

Ellen Kjellmo spoke engagingly on båtrya [boat ryas]. She has also written a book, Båtrya: I Gammel og Ny Tid, which I most highly recommend–a substantial book with technical terms, informative photos, and well-documented handwork knowledge. During the short half-hour she had at her disposal she delved deep into coastal Norway’s traditions of weaving warm rya coverlets that fishermen used in their boats. A rya is called a sheepskin imitation, which is a fitting description–a solid weaving with durable guard hair in the warp, and with napp of soft and insulating inner-wool that together imitates a sheep fleece. A rya has the advantage of remaining pliable and holding its warming qualities even if it gets wet.  A regular sheep fleece would become stiff and unusable from salt water. 

On the second floor of the museum was a pop-up boutique with handwoven products for sale, woven bands from Archangelsk, blankets and shawls from Stellaria, books and weaving equipment from Norges Husflidslag. Kåfjorddalen Ullkarderi, operated by third generation wool carders who now focus on their own spinnery, sold carded wool as batts and roving. They card their wool without washing which means that the lanolin is preserved and the best characteristics of the wool come out. The museum shop was disappointing with its assortment of machine-woven shawls and souvenir products produced abroad. Why not focus more on local handwork? 

The only thing I missed with the Weaving Symposium was an exhibition of traditional textiles from the northern counties, both historical and newly-produced textiles. I also wish we had more time to mingle; the days were so fully packed with programs that we had little time to talk with the other attendees and create new friends. I’ll finish my travelogue with a poem by Rolf Jacobsen. 

North

Look North more often

Go against the wind, you’ll get ruddy cheeks.

Find the rough path. Keep to it. 

It’s shorter. 

North is best. 

Winter’s flaming sky, summer

night’s sun miracle.

Go against the wind. Climb mountains.

Look north.

More often.

This land is long

Most is north.

Translation by Robbie LaFleur and Kay Larson.

Hilde Opedal Nordby is an Norwegian textile artist working with traditional weaving techniques, as well as contemporary and digital weaving. She is based in Sundsvall in Sweden and is working as a teacher in the weaving department at Sätergläntan Institute of Crafts in Insjön, Sweden. She also has her own company offering courses and weaving services as well as hand woven textiles such as interior textiles and textiles for clothing.