Icelandic embroidery and Nordic/Native oral history coming up at the Nordic Museum

The Nordic Museum has some diverse programming coming up in the next few weeks, from Icelandic embroidery classes to symposiums about Native and Nordic blended heritage.

On Saturday, September 15, the museum will host “Interwoven: The Blended Heritage of Nordics and Native Peoples” which is the first in a series of two symposiums. Interwoven is an oral history project initiated by the museum which features a dozen interviews from people with mixed Nordic and Native American heritage.

Panelists for the symposium will include Alison DeRiemer, videographer for the Interwoven project; Susan Ringstad Emery, Interwoven interviewee and artist; Jennifer Ott, historian and assistant director, HistoryLink.org; Tessa Campbell, senior curator, Hibulb Cultural Center. The panel session will be moderated by Fred Poyner IV, Collections Manager, who also serves as one of the Interwoven project co-leads. The cost for the symposium is $10 and includes a buffet-style lunch.

The next day (Sunday, September 16) from 1 to 2:30pm, the Nordic will host a traditional Icelandic embroidery class with Justin Allan-Spencer, the first of two sessions in which students will learn six traditional counted-thread embroidery techniques. The second session is Sunday, September 23.

The organizers note that students should have experience with embroidery or cross-stitch on even-weave fabrics. The second session builds on the first session so participants should plan to attend both dates. The classes cost $30 for members and $35 for non-members.

Photo from the Nordic Museum’s Interwoven event page

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