Volume 23, No 1, February 2017

Transcription

1 Volume 23, No 1, February 2017

2 Monster Weaving Update By Volume 23, No 1, February 2017 Marta Kløve Juuhl recently reported that the monster weaving at the Osterøy Museum has reached the ceiling. Enjoy these photos, and if you missed the description of the seat-belt-webbing weaving, read it here: Weaving on the Ceiling: A New Exhibit and Installation at the Osterøy Museum.

3 Perhaps this scaffolding, as a support structure for weaving, could be considered a sort of loom?

4 Marta Kløve Juuhl under the Norwegian star

5 Perhaps Monika Ravnanger had tired arms after weaving above her head?

6 This photo showing the wall and ceiling gives a good sense of the huge scale of this project A Baby Basket and Bands for Inspiration By lafleur1801@me.com Volume 23, No 1, February 2017

7 By Jan Mostrom Lisa Bauch mentioned that her interest in researching nordic bands for her paper, Threads of Devotion: Possible Medieval Origins of Nordic Christening Bands, was in part inspired by a beautiful christening basket and coverlet displayed at the American Swedish Institute. This style of basket and coverlet, which I first saw on display in Sweden on a Vesterheim Norwegian American Museum Textile Tour, is from the Dalarna area. This christening coverlet is typically red and woven in 3 harness krokbragd. Three sides of the coverlet are bound by a woven band with tassels at the ends of the bands that include colorful cloth strips. The head of the coverlet is bound with a wide red wool strip. The birchwood basket that holds the baby is decorated with squares and circles of heavy wool that are sewn into the bark. It would be common to place a wooden stick in the basket at the baby s head with the baby s and it s sibling s initials and dates of birth. I was fortunate to purchase the coverlet in the ASI exhibit from Suzanne Kramer of County Gallery Antiques.

8 Lisa was not the only one to be inspired by this type of coverlet. Mary Skoy, a member of the Scandinavian Weavers Study Group of the Weavers Guild of Minnesota, wove a similar one, complete with handwoven bands on the edge, after viewing them in Sweden on the Vesterheim tour. Threads of Devotion: Possible Medieval Origins of Nordic Christening Bands By lafleur1801@me.com Volume 23, No 1, February 2017 By Lisa-Anne Bauch At a recent visit to the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis, several items in a folk art display caught my eye. They included a birch bark basket, a red coverlet, and a woven band, all dating from the nineteenth or early twentieth century. My friend Jan Mostrom, an expert in Nordic textiles, explained that the items were intended for use in baptism. All three were decorated with protective symbols, intended to shield the vulnerable infant from evil spirits until the sacrament could be performed. (See more photos here.) A few months later, I happened to enroll in an art history course at the University of St. Thomas. The course, taught by Dr. Michelle Nordtorp-Madson, was entitled Medieval Sacred Space. In this fascinating seminar we investigated the idea of sacred versus mundane space, including not just the soaring cathedrals of the Middle Ages, but also its woven tapestries and illuminated manuscripts, its popular roadside shrines and dusty pilgrimage routes, the beehive huts of Scottish monks and the ancient holy wells of Ireland. Besides regular coursework, each student was required to undertake an independent research topic

9 focused around the following questions: How did people in those times understand and define certain places, times, seasons, objects, and activities as sacred? How did the newer sacred times and places of Christianity overlap with older pagan practices and beliefs? And how did medieval artists express these ideas visually? I immediately remembered the red woven christening bands I had seen, used to protect babies as they traveled from the mundane world of the home to the sacred space of a local church and its baptismal font. Could this tradition go back to the Middle Ages, with echoes from an even-older pagan age? How did the bands visually represent the beliefs of those who wove them? How are the colors and patterns significant in answering these questions? Since Dr. Nordtorp-Madson specializes in clothing and textile arts, she was as curious as I was to investigate. With her help and encouragement, I began my quest. Click here to read PDF Below are a few of the photos I used to illustrate my presentation of the paper, leased from the Norse Folkemuseum. They illustrate bands used in christenings.

10

11

12

13 Wisdom and Folly: Norwegian Pictorial Textiles By Volume 23, No 1, February 2017

14 This beautifully written and illustrated article on Norwegian billedvev (tapestry) by Jo Nilsson is from the January 1998 issue of HALI Magazine, and reprinted with the permission of the publishers. THANK YOU, HALI Magazine. The author discusses Norwegian billedvev within the context of European tapestry development, the looms used, and the popular images depicted on the tapestries. She adds interesting cultural history; for example, she discusses the use of tapestries as coverlets for the bridal bed. Troels-Lund s studies of daily life in the Nordic countries during the 16th century provide us with detailed information about the bridal custom known as mounting the bed, in which newlyweds were required to lie on the bridal bed while a speaker delivered a lengthy talk. The couple would generally lie down fully clad in the bed and draw the coverlet over themselves while the wedding assembly watched. By the 17th century the practice was modified in many areas, with the couple sitting on the bed while a guest, relative or priest spoke about the Flemish coverlet draped over it; presumably the tapestry had a Biblical theme. Apparently some Norwegian wives didn t say, Kjæreste, pass på teppet (Sweetheart, watch out for the coverlet), when their husbands laid down for a nap. Nilsson wrote, A textile restorer at Maihaugen Museum in Lillehammer noticed worn areas in the same places on many coverlets and suggested that they were caused by husbands taking midday naps on top of the coverlet while wearing knives on their belts. The coverlets were probably placed on the bed during the day and removed at night. Again, we can enjoy the article thanks to the reprint permission from HALI Magazine. Malin Lonnberg, Assistant Editor at HALI, wrote, Last year we digitised our whole archive of back issues, meaning that subscribers can now access what we call the HALI Archive online. All the back issues are searchable, which is handy for those with specific textile interests (say Scandinavian textiles). HALI subscribers now get full digital access to the HALI Archive, featuring every HALI since For only 60/ 88/$120, subscribers receive four printed issues of HALI a year and fully searchable access to over 189 editions. See for more information. Download pdf here. Note: the file is large, but needs to be, for the best representation of the beautiful photographs. Also, the print is quite small. The original is larger than standard 8-1/2 x 11 paper, so the article is reduced in scale.

15 Celebrating Tapestry Artist Brita Been By Volume 23, No 1, February 2017 By Karianne H. Sand, January 14, 2017 Editor s note: One of the problems with seeing notices on the Web for tempting exhibits of work by Norwegian textile artists is that, well, Norway is far away! Early this year an exhibit of the monumental tapestries of Brita Been opened in Skien, Norway. Karianne H. Sand delivered the welcoming remarks and she shared her talk with us, so we can imagine being there in person. These two photo collages were posted in a blog entry about the opening from the Skien Kunstforening, sponsor of the exhibit. Robbie LaFleur

16 Dear everyone. Dear Brita. I wish to congratulate both Brita Been and the Skien Art Association Brita for her 70 years and for her fantastic exhibit. This year the professional organization Norwegian Textile Artists celebrates its 40th year, and it is this organization for which I serve as director. Brita Been, too, is a member, and it is a great honor for me to be allowed to open this year of celebration with a textile celebration in her name. This exhibit is called Arvestykker [ Heirlooms ], named for one of Brita s woven series on display. The exhibit also includes the series Skybragd [ Cloud Pattern ] and Repetisjoner [ Repetitions ]. The series Repetisjoner is the earliest of the series in this exhibit. And, where there is weaving, there surely is repetition. Brita herself says that she creates three to four pieces per year, which speaks to how time consuming the process is. It is time consuming and filled with repetition the same motion over and over again. Weaving is mathematics and geometry, something the works in this series reflect in their images. Here one sees the repetitions, the mathematics and geometric shapes. Brita s design language has clear references to the Bauhaus school Rugs in the Repetisjoner series. Photo from the Skien and functionalism. She constructs surfaces and Kunstnerforbundet creates space using color and design alone. Patterns have no beginning and no end, like a machine that roars into motion. But in the midst of all this, Brita sits and weaves with her hands and with this closeness to her materials, she creates a fantastic energy and pulse in the tapestries. A detail from the Repetisjoner series, from Britabeen.no Brita has an impressive curriculum vita, and I shall not even attempt to list the most important places where she has had her work exhibited yet I feel it revolves around her having had onewoman shows at the Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum [the National Museum of Decorative Arts, Trondheim], Kunstnerforbundet [contemporary art gallery, Oslo], Hå gamle Prestegård [Hå old parsonage farm, Jæren, Western Norway, now an art and historical culture center] and, last but not least, SOFT Gallery [the gallery of Norwegian Textile Artists, Oslo], where I work, and, of course, the

17 Skien Kunstforening [Skien Art Association]. She has also exhibited in several locations around the world. Chinese-inspired clouds, from Britabeen.no I wish to draw attention to one biennial event in which she has participated no fewer than four times, the International Fiber Art Biennial, which takes place in China. It is from this meeting with the East that the inspiration for the series Skybragd comes. Here, Brita became fascinated with the reliefs carved in marble of variations of the cloud motif, and she then combined this with the old, traditional pattern, skybragd, that was used in earlier Norwegian weaving tradition. In the National Museum s archives, I found one piece with that title dating from between 1700 and It appears that this pattern, based on the pomegranate and palmette motifs, is a universal motif that has moved across cultures and through time. Here, Brita weaves together the West and the East. Everything is One of several old Norwegian skybragd weavings in connected. the Norwegian Digital Museum, at: The series Arvestykker began when Brita was given a commission to decorate the Bø Hospital retirement home. She wanted the tapestries to give both residents and visitors a sense of belonging and recognition. Therefore, she took as her point of reference Telemark s strong folk costume culture. It has, of course, been known for a long time that the most beautiful costumes of all come from there. And, if any of you are in West Oslo on the 17th of May, you will see that everyone there originally comes from Telemark * But, there is a reason why this costume is so popular, for it is rich and colorful, with beautiful details.

18 Detail from the an Arvestykker tapestry, from BritaBeen,no In this series, Brita has taken as her reference the embroidery on the costume s stockings and shirts and translated them to another strong folk tradition that is, weaving. The lovely details from the folk costume are now allowed to play the lead role in Brita s work. The powerful handwork that took hours to embroider now gets to be not just a decoration and pretty detail but the work itself. Brita herself says, These tapestries are a celebration of women s creative work, their time and patience. The exhibition shows three different series, but at the same time as Brita manages to constantly renew herself, she also remains true to herself. There is no doubt when one encounters a Brita Been tapestry that it is her creation. The same is true for the woman herself when one meets Brita Been, one knows that it is Brita Been. I still remember the first time I met you ten years ago at the exhibit honoring stipend award-winners held at City Hall. I remember you, dressed entirely in bright pink stripes, your dark page-boy haircut, and, not least of all, your incredibly joyful and energetic radiance. I remember I thought then what I think now this is an incredibly cool lady. Warm congratulations, Brita, for the year, the day, and the exhibit. *The reference to everyone coming from Telemark is because the Telemark-style folk costume is so popular and worn by many Norwegians, regardless of where their families originally lived. Karianne H. Sand is an art historian and the head of Norske Tekstilkunstnere (Norwegian Textile Artists) and the SOFT Gallery in Oslo, the site of frequent cutting-edge textile exhibits. Translated by Edi Thorstensson Read more about the work of Brita Been on her site, britabeen.no, including an article from a 2015 issue of the Swedish Väv Magasin that gives interesting details about her weaving technique as well as her inspiration. Several of her tapestries are found on the Norwegian Absolute Tapestry site, here.