Scandinavia House is staging The Cold Stitch as the third Nordic Textile Takeover, shifting attention in New York from craft as heritage to textile practice as active cultural work. The exhibition, on view September 4 through 16, gathers makers from across the Nordic region whose work uses stitch and fabric to hold memory, politics and repair in plain view.
Curated by Ragna Froda and organised by the American-Scandinavian Foundation with Emily Stoddart, the programme foregrounds reuse and transformation. Artists repurpose discarded garments, yarn and textile remnants into quilts, patchwork, collage, woven pieces, hand embroidery and sculptural textiles so materials formerly cast aside become sites of meaning and critique.
The roster spans Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and the Faroe Islands and includes Margrethe Aanestad, Valgerður Bergsdottir, Ellen Dynebrink, Ragna Froda, Heidi Hankaniemi, Ingunn Fjóla IngÞórsdóttir, Lee Jensen, Andrea Magdalena Jonsdottir, John K. Raustein, Randi Samsonsen, Sunna Sigfríðardóttir, Nora Martine Hjelle Strand, Thórunn Elísabet (Tótalisa), Josabet Werkmäster, Mette Winckelmann and Kiyoshi Yamamoto. Together their practices treat stitching as both material method and language, allowing layered histories and personal narratives to remain visible even as fragments are bound together.
Organisers have framed the takeover as more than an exhibition. The schedule pairs gallery hours with artist talks, workshops and curator walkthroughs to activate the work socially. Highlights include a curator walkthrough on September 5 at 2pm, a basket weaving workshop on September 8 at 5:30pm, artist talks on September 12 at 2pm and a stitching circle on September 13 from noon to 4pm. The final workshop and artist talk takes place on September 16 from 3pm to 6pm, followed by a last curator walkthrough at 6pm. Gallery hours run Tuesday through Sunday, 12pm to 6pm from September 4 to 15, and 12pm to 8pm on September 16. Admission is free.
The Cold Stitch centres textile labour as an ongoing cultural practice rather than a relic. By placing community workshops alongside gallery display, the programme seeks to widen who participates in and understands textile art. Visitors can see how repair, mending and visible stitching operate as strategies for historical memory and political reflection, and can join conversations that extend beyond the walls of Scandinavia House.
All events take place at Scandinavia House, 58 Park Avenue, New York. Further programme details are available at scandinaviahouse.org.
