Creative Hands
Creative Hands - Icelandic laid-and-couched embroideries of past centuries.
The exhibition displays all the extant Icelandic historical embroideries sewn in laid-and-couched work. Most of them originally hung in Icelandic churches, and they provide insight into Icelandic ecclesiastical art. The oldest surviving examples date from the late 14th century, while the most recent was stitched in 1677. The majority of the pieces (ten) are altar frontals. Fragments of one horizontal wall hanging (Icelandic refill) survive, together with the border of an altar riddel (the only extant example of this feature), an altar frontlet, a portrait of a bishop, and an orphrey cross on a chasuble.
The exhibition Creative Hands presents the results of decades of research on laid-and-couched embroidery by Elsa E. Guðjónsson (1924-2010), who worked at the National Museum of Iceland for over 30 years as a textile specialist.
These masterpieces of Icelandic art from medieval and early modern times were the work of artistically gifted women who had gained expertise in weaving and embroidery. The exhibition offers visitors the opportunity to see these treasures of Icelandic art for themselves.
Never before have all the extant examples of Icelandic laid-and-couched work been displayed together. They number fifteen: nine are in the collection of the National Museum of Iceland, while six are on loan from foreign collections: four from Nationalmuseet København in Denmark, one from Rijksmuseum Twenthe in Enschede, Netherlands, and one from the Louvre in Paris.
Creative hands was the main event of 2023, when the museum celebrates its 160th anniversary.
Events & symposium
A variety of events were held alongside the exhibition, including lectures on specific works, guided tours, workshops, and a children's program. In January 2024, a symposium was organized on the research of Elsa E. Guðjónsson and the works featured in the exhibition. The symposium can be watched here:
The exhibition was nominated for the Icelandic Museum Awards, click here to see coverage of the occasion.
Here you can find some media coverage of the exhibition
Collaborative partner:
- Musée du Louvre
- Nationalmuseet i København
- Rijksmuseum Twenthe
Sponsor: Icelandair
Publication
On November 5th, a book of the same name by Elsa was released, presenting her decades-long research in a work spanning over 400 pages and featuring around 1000 photographs.
Editors: Lilja Árnadóttir og Mörður Árnason
Layout and design: Sigrún Sigvaldadóttir
Publisher: Þjóðminjasafn Íslands.
The book received extraordinary acclaim. It was awarded the Fjöruverðlaunin, Women's Literature Prize, see here, and was nominated for the Icelandic Literary Prize and the Hagþenkir Award, the Association of Non-fiction and Educational Writers in Iceland, see here.
Ljósmyndir úr safneign og sérhannaðar fallegar vörur sem tengjast sýningarhaldi
