Byssus

Officinet - Danske Kunsthåndværkere & Designere, Copenhagen (DK)

In Collaboration with Maja Lund

September - October 2024

Byssus are golden strands of hair that some species of mussels secrete to anchor themselves to objects in the water, to each other or to the seabed. In winter, when the sea is rough, the strength and quality of the threads increases. The mussel can choose to release its grip on the substrate and move to another location. The exhibition Byssus in the Officinet is based on several years of collaboration between the textile artists Maja Lund (DK) and Hanna Norrna (SE), who explore byssus threads from the blue mussel Mytilus edulis and seaweed from the seas between Denmark and Sweden. Through collaborations with mussel producers in Bohuslän and seaweed producers in Odsherred, the artists get raw material, which they then process with textile tools and techniques: weaving, spinning, felting, embroidery and dyeing.

The works in the exhibition are created based on the material and the concept of byssus, which with many different meanings over time has represented both linen, cotton, hemp, silk, sea silk and sea wool. Due to the many different meanings of the term, the materials are mutually entangled, just as they are connected to many myths and legends, which the artists' works relate to in different ways.

The starting point for Lund and Norrna's processing of byssus from Mytilus edulis comes from historical traditions of spinning sea silk from threads from the Mediterranean mussel Pinna nobilis. They have studied the material and the craft on study trips to Sardinia, where they have several times met female artisans who work with the material in different ways. During the exhibition, selected parts of the Sardinian connection will be presented.

The exhibition in the Officinet draws parallels between the endangered species Pinna nobilis, which is red-listed by the IUCN, and the North Sea's population of blue mussel beds, which continue to decline. The purpose of placing the material in a context of contemporary art and crafts, in relation to the myths of the past, is to explore and expand the understanding of the potential that the North Sea mussel's byssus fibers hold, and the cultural history of which it is a part. By working experimentally to include a marine material such as byssus in a textile practice, a sensory connection is established between material and human, and through this the possibility of creating a caring understanding of the landscape, of which both are a natural part.

The exhibition is accompanied by a program of book publishing, a workshop and a series of talks about sea and coastal landscapes, materials and crafts.

The exhibition is supported by the Statens Kunstfond, the Beckett Foundation, Grosserer L.F. Foght's Foundation, Helge Ax:son's Foundation, the Swedish-Danish Cultural Foundation, Knud Højgaard's Foundation and Statens Værksteder for Kunst.

Vernissage

Fredag 27 september kl 17-20

Bogudgivelse: “Sea Silk” af Maja Lund & Hanna Norrna

Samtale: Kunsthåndværk & landskaber

Lørdag 28 september

Samtale om materialer mellem mennesker, landskaber og det mere-end-menneskelige. Kl 15-16.

Deltagare: Emmy Laura Pérez Fjalland, Maja Lund, Hanna Norrna og Andrea Pontoppidan (moderator).

Samtale: Havet fortæller/At fortælle havet

Lørdag 12 oktober

Sound performance: Barbara Skovmand. Kl 15.

Samtale om myterne, der knytter sig til havet. Kl 16-17.

Deltagere: Siri Ranva Hjelm Jacobsen, Maja Lund, Hanna Norrna og Andrea Pontoppidan (moderator).

Workshop: Byssus

Søndag 13 oktober kl 14-15

Forarbejdning af byssus og fremvisning af værker af den sardiske kunsthåndværker Arianna Pintus.

Finissage & Samtale: Hår & håndens arbejde

Lørdag 19 oktober

Samtale om håndværk, hårarbejde og kulturarv, samt fremvisning af hårarbejdsteknikker. Kl 15-16.30.

Deltagere: Anna Sparr, Maja Lund, Hanna Norrna og Andrea Pontoppidan (moderator).