Nordic Craft Week

Nordic Craft Week is an annual campaign on Facebook celebrating Nordic handicraft. For a week each autumn the Nordic countries come together to showcase both the unique local variations and our shared cultural heritage. Nordic Craft Week was first held in 2018 and is initiated by the Nordic Folk Art and Craft Federation (NFACF).

Celebrates diverse traditions

The Nordic countries have long-standing craft traditions in common. Nordic Craft Week aspires to showcase these rich and diverse traditions and share the joy of making. Over the course of a week each autumn, there is a flood of activity on the Nordic Craft Week Facebook page. These are resources that are open and accessible throughout the year, for inspiration and pleasure for all who are interested.

Nordic Craft Week is a collaboration between the craft organisations in the Nordic countries. Hemslöjden contributes together with The Norwegian Folk Art and Craft Association the Danish Fora, the Finnish Taito, the Icelandic Craft Association, the Faroe Island Craft Association and the Estonian craft association Eesti Rahvakunsti ja Käsitöö Liit. The campaign is initiated by the Nordic Folk Art and Craft Federation (NFACF), established in 1927.

Follow Nordic Craft Week on Facebook.

Nordic Craft Week 2021 

The theme for Nordic Craft Week 2021 was “Hands On”. It all starts with our hands. With our hands we hold the materials and grasp the tools, and with our hands we build experience and hone our skills. Through generations tacit knowledge has been passed through hand to hand. The result is the varied and wonderful handicraft traditions we see throughout the Nordic countries today.

The Norwegian Folk Art and Craft Association shared how we work specifically with young people and cross-cultural connection.

“Creating something with your hands and simple hand-tools gives deep satisfaction. Introducing young people to traditional handicrafts has many positive benefits, from increased well-being, greater awareness of sustainability issues, to cross-cultural connection.”

Read the article by the Association for Studies of Culture and Traditions on the importance of handicraft and action-transmitted knowledge.

Nordic Craft Week 2020 

In 2020 the theme for Nordic Craft Week was “wood”, and Norway’s contribution showcased the forgotten craft of split willow basket making.

When the last remaining basket weaver who mastered this technique, Arne Jensen, died in 2007, the craft was in danger of being lost. Thankfully, the basket weavers Hege Wiken and Samson Øvstebø have worked tirelessly to reconstruct these old traditional baskets. With the help of an old film clip, a few simple patterns left by Arne Jensen and patient work, they have retrieved old knowledge and given the craft a new life.

Nordic Craft Week 2019 

As part of Nordic Craft Week 2019 each country published a pattern for a pair of traditional mittens. The Norwegian Folk Art and Craft Association created a pattern for traditional wedding mittens from Møre and Romsdal on the Westcoast of Norway. The pattern is based on mittens from the second half of the 19th century, which were likely used for special occasions like weddings and to church. The mittens are knitted with a thin 1-ply, unbleached wool yarn, with embroidered flounder edges on the cuffs and cross stitch embroidered décor.

 

Download all the free patterns from Nordic Craft Week 2019 here:

Norwegian wedding mittens (Eng)