Scandinavia House, in partnership with New York Textile Month, is pleased to present the third iteration of TEXTILE TAKEOVER, an exhibition, workshop series, and artist talks highlighting contemporary Nordic Textiles, coinciding with NY Textile Month in New York City. Featuring an exhibition in the Scandinavia House gallery, the program includes artist talks, a reception, and hands-on workshops. The exhibition opens on Friday, September 4, to Wednesday, September 16, 2026.

Featured Artists include:
Margarethe Aanestad (Norway)
Valgerdur Bergsdottir (Iceland)
Ellen Dynebrynk (Sweden)
Ragna Froda (Iceland)
Heidi Hankaniemi (Finland)
Ingunn Fjóla IngÞórsdóttir (Iceland)
Lee Jensen (Denmark)
Andrea Magdalena Jonsdottir (Iceland)
John Raustein (Norway)
Randi Samsonsen (Faroe Islands)
Sunna Sigfridardottir (Iceland)
Nora Martine Hjelle Strand (Norway)
Thorunn Elisabet Sveinsdottir (Iceland)
Josabet Green Werkmeister (Sweden)
Mette Winkelmann (Denmark)
Kiyoshi Yamamoto (Norway) 

THE COLD STITCH is a Nordic textile collaboration project co-curated by Ragna Froda (ISL/US), Director of New York Textile Month, and Emily Stoddart (CA), manager of exhibitions and community programs at Scandinavia House, New York.

PROGRAM SCHEDULE

More details + registration information to be announced imminently

Saturday, September 5th
2pm: Curator Walkthrough with Ragna Frodadottir

Saturday, September 12th
2pm: Artist Talks: Nora Martine Hjelle Strand, Ingunn Fjóla IngÞórsdóttir, Thorunn Elisabet Sveinsdottir
Curator Walkthrough with Ragna Froda
4pm: Reception

Sunday, September 13th
12–4pm: Hand stitching workshop with Thorunn Elisabet Sveinsdottir, Nora Martine Hjelle Strand, and Andrea Magdalena Jónsdóttir 

Wednesday, September 16th
3-6pm: Artist Talk and Workshop with Heidi Hankaniemi  
6-7pm: Curator Walkthrough with Ragna Froda

ABOUT THE COLD STITCH

In the Nordic countries, stitching has long been more than decoration or domestic craft. It is a necessity, a form of storytelling, survival, memory, and care. In landscapes shaped by cold climates and long winters, textiles have become vessels of warmth, protection, repair, and continuity, carrying traces of everyday life and cultural identity across generations.

THE COLD STITCH brings together artists from across Scandinavia whose practices engage with textiles as both material and language. Through quilting, patchwork, collage, weaving, hand embroidery, sculptural textiles, and visible and invisible stitching, this exhibition explores how textile traditions have continued to evolve within contemporary art. The exhibition’s title refers both to the geography of the North, the relationship with textiles and the act of stitching itself.

A stitch repairs, connects, layers, and transforms. It binds fragments together while allowing histories, emotions, reflections on the political climate, and personal narratives to remain visible. Echoing this feature, many of the works in the exhibition embrace reuse and transformation, giving discarded fabrics, garments, yarns, and textile remnants new meaning through the artistic process.

THE COLD STITCH celebrates textile art as a living and evolving practice deeply rooted in the cultures of the North, where there is a strong tradition of working with textiles as an art form and where stitching continues to mend, preserve, and reimagine the world around us.

Banner image credit: Ellen Dynebrink, Kiyoshi Yamamoto, Nora Strand, Lee Jensen, and Heidi Hankaniemi