Text and photo Laila Duran ©

It was in Mandal, on the lovely shores of Norwegian Sörlandet we had the last photo shoot for the next book. This pretty young girl, Åslaug, dressed in her sunday best spent a whole day with her friend in front of the camera. They are both eighteen and enjoyed this first day of spring. The sky was blue and for the first time this year the wind was warm. The temperature rose to 13-14 °C and we enjoyed it immensely.

The Mandal Husflid, Mandal Arts & Crafts, was the host for this photo shoot. They had prepared several bunads, both the traditional ones but also introduced a new bunad that will be presented to the public for the first time in Oslo at the release of the book.

This is a woman´s bunad showing the fashion in Vest-Agder in the 1830-1870-ies. The striped skirt and the characteristic tiny, tiny “skirt” at the lower back of the bodice is called “klau”. Her headdress shows how unmarried women wore their hair, tied in colorful ribbons and fastened in a ring at the back of the head.

So utterly young and handsome. His dark blue bunad with a red-green-blue striped waistcoat was topped off with a felt hat with silk ribbon.

The headdress that gives the Vest-Agder woman her silhouette  is called “valk” and when she marries she will wear a large white cotton kersheif tied over it. To keep the pleated waistline in place she wears red woven suspenders buttoned to her skirt by two forged silver buttons.

In cooperation with the Vest-Agder Museet, Mandal Husflid is reproducing several of the embroidered shawls and apron that was fashionable in the area in the early 20st century.

The hanging pockets are small pieces of art. The one to the left is the old original and the one to the right is a reproduction. These pockets are now put into production and it is possible to make special orders. An unusual feature is that the embroidery has been made on velvet ground. Usually the pockets are made of broadcloth with wool embroidery. This one is quite exclusive, made of silk velvet with silk edging.

In the book there will be several versions of the Vest-Agder bunads, the local tradition has a great variation of accessories like aprons, shawls, hanging pockets and warming mittens. And if in Sörlandet, even if you are not looking to buy a bunad, the shop Mandal Husflid in the center of the city is well worth a visit.

For more information on the Vest-Agder bunads please visit : http://www.norskflid.no/mandal/

http://www.vestagdermuseet.no/

All text and photos are protected by Copyright.

Text and photo Laila Duran ©

Today the celebration of the Jokkmokk winter market starts. It is minus 15°C and the sun is shining. Thousands of people gather and the market not only shows the goods of the trade of the reindeer keepers but for a whole week there are lectures, courses in sami crafts, theater, music and dance. This year’s market theme is “Music on the Arctic Circle”. If you want to know more you should visit the websites and see what is going on. Here are some: http://www.jokkmokksmarknad.se/home/ Take a look at this as well, it can hardly get more exotic:  http://www.jokkmokksmarknad.se/news/with-instruments-made-of-ice/

The young woman is wearing her Jokkmokk kolt. The coming week there will be thousands of beautiful folk costume from all over Sapmi to be seen in the streets of Jokkmokk.

The young man with his reindeer is wearing a Sami costume from Karesuando.

North and south Sami costumes. The woman to the right is wearing a costume from Jämtland and the woman to the left a costume from Jokkasjärvi.

To keep her warm she is wearing a fur hat and a storm cape, njálfáhtta.

All the Sami costumes has storm capes. The young man is wearing a green cape of broadcloth trimmed with red and yellow ribbons.

To celebrate the Sami national day on the 6th of February the Norsk Folkemuseum in Oslo has made a large exhibition with old photos from the Sami culture from a hundred years ago. If you want to read more you can also visit:

http://www.norskfolkemuseum.no/en/Collections/The-Sami-Collections/

All text and photos are protected by Copyright.

Text and photo Laila Duran ©

The folk costume or “Bunad” from Setesdal has a long and unbroken tradition. Randi Gåserud Myrum, working at the Setesdal Museum, is wearing the Bunad she made herself in 1990. Two woolen skirts are worn on top of each other: one white, “understakk”, and one black, “svartestakk”. Both have embroidered waist bands and hems decorated with strips of broad cloth. The wide skirts are held together with a woven belt, which is wrapped two times around the waist and closed in front with a silver clasp. The headdress is made in black wool with red printed flower motifs. The woolen stockings, “krotasokker”, are held up with leather garters with silver buckles which are called “spretti og sprota”.

Over the white shirt a jacket, called “Blåkofta”, is worn, which is short enough to show the embroidered skirt waistbands. It is closed with silver lacing rings and a silver chain.

The jacket is embellished with embroidery at the cuffs, shoulders and center front.

A shawl with woven pattern, “Kyrkjetæpe”, was worn over the Sunday best clothes when going to church in winter time. Since at least 1880, it was woven with a cotton warp and wool wefts in a technique called “skillbragd”, equal to Swedish “opphämta”. The name of the technique is derived from that the pattern shed was picked up and opened with a broad wooden stick.

The shawl was 175 cm long and 55 cm wide. It was common to separate the red fields with borders in green, blue, pink, orange and purple color. The most elaborated shawls also had small flower motifs brocaded on the red ground. The shawl on the photo was woven in 1935 by the wearer’s mother in law.

For more information about Setesdal and the museum please visit www.setesdalsmuseet.no