Hannah Ryggen Triennale: Mater

The Hannah Ryggen Triennale in Trondheim, Norway, honours renowned textile artist Hannah Ryggen (1894–1970). This year’s edition, “Mater,” focuses on motherhood and features contemporary artists exploring materiality and cultural identity. Text in English and Norwegian.

The Hannah Ryggen Triennale is initiated and organized by Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum in Trondheim, Norway, and dedicated to the celebrated textile artist Hannah Ryggen (1894–1970). During her lifetime, Ryggen gained international recognition for her vibrant political tapestries, and her heartfelt humanistic works still resonate with audiences today.

Each Triennale explores themes from Ryggen’s art through the lens of contemporary craft and visual art. The theme of the 4th edition is “Mater,” for which the exhibitions and the accompanying catalogue highlight Ryggen’s thematizing of motherhood and material, how her works were rooted in the nature around her, and how she “wove herself” into arts and crafts traditions. This year’s Triennale presents contemporary artists who address these themes by approaching materiality from an ecological perspective, or by actively seeking out their foremothers in the textile tradition to explore their individual and cultural identity.

Text in English and Norwegian.