Fourth Conference on
Norwegian Woven Textiles
Hosted by
Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum
and Luther College
Decorah,
Iowa
September 25-27, 2009
Click here for complete information
Click here for a registration form
Click here for the Iowa Federation of Handweavers and Spinners Day Program
Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum and Luther College are pleased to announce plans for the fourth Conference on Norwegian Woven Textiles. The conference will include Norwegian and American speakers, special exhibitions, study group displays, pre- and post-conference classes, and more!
The conference is paid for in part by a grant from the American-Scandinavian Foundation's Wigeland Fund and from the Decorah Hotel/Motel Committee: B&B on Broadway, Bluffs Inn, Country Inn, Dee Dee's Bed and Breakfast, The Depot Outlet, The Dug Road Inn, Hotel Winneshiek, Heartland Inn, Montgomery Mansion, and Super 8 Motel.
Keynote Speakers
Dr. Mikkel B. Tin, Telemark University College in Rauland, has recently published a book on symbols, De første formene: Folkekunstens abstrakte formspråk (The First Forms: Abstraction in Folk Art). At the conference he will speak about symbols on woven and embroidered textiles, with an emphasis on female motifs.
Inger Anne Utvåg, currently dean of the faculty of Art, Design and Drama at Oslo University College, started weaving traditional versions of båtrya, or “boat rugs,” woven coverlets with one side of knotted fringe. Now she uses vibrant colors and contrasting textures to make contemporary artworks that still honor Norwegian coastal history.
Britt Solheim lives in Gjøvik, Norway, and teaches courses all over Scandinavia in the old technique of skinnfell-making. A skinnfell is a coverlet made of sheep skins sewn together. Some of these coverlets are printed with wooden blocks and alder-bark dye. Solheim will speak on the products, processes, history, and folklore of the skinnfell
Special Exhibitions
For Sacred Symbols, Ceremonial Cloth, guest curator Mary Kelly has selected textiles from Vesterheim’s collection and the collection of Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo. Four theme areas explain and demonstrate important pre-Christian functions of symbols: good luck, fertility, protection, and connecting the human and spiritual worlds. Wood, metal, and horn artifacts reinforce the importance of having symbols all around and all the time.
Woven Women: Representations of the Female in Norwegian Weaving will feature the work of contemporary weavers. To celebrate the long and varied tradition of Norwegian weaving and its many talented women weavers, artists are invited to create handwoven artworks that depict females abstractly or realistically. The deadline for entries (photos of finished artworks) is June 19, 2009. For information on how to enter, contact Laurann Gilbertson.
Knitting along the Viking Trail is a traveling exhibition of knitwear designed by Elsebeth Lavold, who now lives near Stockholm, Sweden. In the 1990s she began to interpret Viking and Iron-Age interlaced motifs and runic letters into knitting. The exhibition will include sweaters, hats, and pillows along with replicas of the pictures and rune stones that inspired the designs.
2009 Grace Rikansrud Memorial Lecture
Mary Kelly will present Vesterheim’s 2009 Grace Rikansrud Memorial Lecture on Sunday, September 27. Kelly will give a travelogue-style presentation about embroidery and folk costumes from Scandinavia to Eastern Europe titled Finding Sacred Symbols: A Life of Textile Travel. The lecture will begin at 2:00 p.m. at Vesterheim’s Bethania Church, located at 113 North Mill Street in Decorah, Iowa.