Exhibition: Threads in Time

While other European royal houses in the 17th century commissioned large, factory-produced tapestries from centres such as Paris, the Royal Collection i Norway tells a different story. It consists of woven works by leading Norwegian artists and craftspeople, shaped by the national handicraft tradition, local wool and plant-based dyes. This heritage represents a unique chapter in Norwegian art and cultural history that has never before been shown on this scale. Several of the textiles are part of private interiors and are now being presented in a public context for the very first time.

The exhibition brings to light both well-known and lesser-known artists and craftspeople. The Prestgard sisters, who dyed their own yarn using plants from nature, and Meidell, who supplied a number of works directly to Queen Maud, are key representatives of the high level of craftsmanship that characterised the period. The exhibition shows how these women combined technical skill with an ideological outlook rooted in Norwegian nature and tradition.

For many visitors, the National Tapestries will be the exhibition’s absolute highlight. These monumental works, woven under the direction of Frida Hansen after designs by Gerhard Munthe, were awarded a gold medal at the Paris World’s Fair in 1900. In the exhibition, the tapestries are shown alongside Gerhard Munthe’s own versions, specially loaned from the Norwegian School of Economics / Villa Stupet in Bergen and Trondheim Art Museum. For many years, the National Tapestries hung in the Palace’s upper vestibule as a national symbol, but were later taken down to ensure their preservation for future generations. They are now being made accessible to the public once again.

The exhibition Threads in Time presents a selection of tapestries from the Royal Collections that spans the period from the renaissance of tapestry weaving in Norway in the 1890s to the years following the Second World War.