New York, NY—Opening in April 5, 2025 at Scandinavia House: The Nordic Center in America, Nordic Echoes — Tradition in Contemporary Art is the first major traveling exhibition of contemporary Nordic folk arts and cultural traditions from the Upper Midwest. Featuring 55 works by 24 contemporary artists whose practices are informed by Nordic traditional skills, the exhibition will showcase the malleability and persistence of these traditions in the U.S. Looking at painting and textile traditions as well as works in wood and metal, Nordic Echoes highlights how variations on traditional themes and innovations have led to the emergence of living, evolving forms. No longer static objects rooted in an imagined past, these works explore themes of identity and belonging as well as how traditions have been shaped by their U.S.-based environments. On view through August 2, 2025, the exhibition will be accompanied by a wide range of programming, including artists’ talks and panels, workshops, films, music, guided gallery tours, and family activities.
A range of events will also take place on Opening Day, Saturday, April 5. An art workshop on birch-bark weaving will be followed by a panel with select artists from the exhibition, as well as a reception and a wood-carving demonstration.
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Featuring artists living and practicing within the pan-Nordic regions of North and South Dakota, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, the exhibition demonstrates how traditions have been passed down and changed or altered by new generations, often shaped by the Upper Midwestern environment and landscape by using local materials. A skinnfeld or hudteppe (usually a sheepskin-lined coverlet in Norway) takes on new dimensions in Robin Carlson’s full-sized buffalo hide, while Lisa Wiitala’s ryijy (Finnish pile rugs) pay tribute to the local berries of the Upper Peninsula. The exhibition also looks at how artists explore questions of identity and belonging. Tia Keobounpheng’s weaving and film speak to her Finnish family connections as well as her newly discovered Sámi heritage, and Talon Wilson’s metalwork creates a meeting place between the skills and knowledge he gained in studying blacksmithing in Sweden and the Dakota traditions that are his heritage.
Organized by The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) with partial support from The National Endowment for the Arts, Nordic Echoes: Tradition in Contemporary Art will later travel to institutions across the U.S. including the South Dakota Art Museum, American Swedish Institute, Vesterheim, and others. The organization of the exhibition at Scandinavia House has been made possible in part by the Tova Borgnine Bequest, the Birgitta Dill Bequest, The Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation, and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Support has also been provided by the following ASF Funds: The Bonnier Family Fund for Contemporary Art, The F. Donald Kenney Fund for the Visual Arts, and The Centennial/Second Century Fund.