Rose Red Glow:Crossing Borders with Textiles

Can textiles, like music, painting, sculpture, and architecture, serve as a universal cultural expression that transcends language, <br/>nationality, and borders? Examining northern Finnish textile <br/>traditions, particularly in a city of Tornio, by the border to Sweden <br/>in Finnish Lapland, and Pechenga (Petsamo in Finnish), a <br/>historically significant Arctic region on the coast of the Arctic <br/>Ocean, reveal the rich entanglement of trade, migration, and <br/>international influences. <br/>Inspired by Nils Schillmark’s Strawberry Girl (c. 1782) and Hannu <br/>Väisänen’s Schillmark Variations (2021), this study considers how <br/>woven textiles, like paintings, capture layers of time and unveil <br/>transnational textiles. By viewing woven textiles as material <br/>entanglements rather than mere objects, items or representations, <br/>we gain a deeper understanding of their role in shaping textile <br/>design histories. Woven textiles actively convey and shape <br/>knowledge, and cultural memory.