At the end of the summer, we enjoyed participating in a Polish-Norwegian project to popularise old crafts, specifically focusing on their unique characteristics in Norway. As part of the project, we created the concept for an open-air exhibition and ran a series of workshops. Our work on the exhibition involved selecting twenty traditional crafts, writing accompanying texts and pairing these with corresponding illustrations and photographs, which we took during our travels in Norway.
Our list of ancient Norwegian crafts included: boatbuilding, woodcarving, stonemasonry, pottery, glass bead making, metalworking (the production of jewellery), blacksmithing and weapon making, hornwork, naalbinding (single needle knitting), textile and fibre dyeing, knitting, pasamonics, artistic weaving, decorative and utility cord making, embroidery from the Hardanger region and rosemaling – folk painting of household items. The exhibition also featured explanations of the various styles found in Viking art, bunad – Norwegian folk costume, and traditional clothing of the Saami who are the indigenous people of northern Scandinavia.
On 17 September, the Silver Mountain Fortress hosted the project’s closing event, the ‘Ancient Crafts Show’. This one-day event brought together enthusiasts of traditional crafts and handicrafts, as well as medieval reenactors. Our Association ran workshops in band weaving, single needle knitting and postcard stamping, featuring designs derived from Slavic and Viking mythology. Our president, Anna Raczkowska, acted as a presenter for the event.
Photos: Silver Mountain Fortress (Twierdza Srebrna Góra).
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