This interview by Geir Haraldseth with Ida Falck Øien investigates the fashion brand HAiK's conceptual approach to garment-making, using anthropological methods, interdisciplinary collaboration, and focus on crafting traditions.

Since its inception, Norwegian Crafts has concerned itself with developing new thinking about craft. In this essay by art historian and former Norwegian Crafts chairwoman Jorunn Veiteberg we are offered a closer look into Norwegian Crafts’ focus on theory development and craft writings, as she discusses challenges within the craft field today. Her unsurprising conclusion is that the concept of craft is neither unambiguous nor simple.

Editorial for the fourth issue of The Vessel titled Norwegian Crafts Magazine Revisited, edited by the Norwegian Crafts team

Kristine Wessel, chairwoman of Norwegian Crafts, looks back on the organisation's evolution over the past ten years: from an online magazine to a multifaceted institution working to connect artists and art professionals across the craft field.

Recognizing Ground: Where Indigenous and Queer Practices Meet is a conversation between artists matt lambert and Máret Ánne Sara about shared experiences, migration, nomadism and land.

Jessica Hemmings reflects on the textile works of artist Toril Johannessen and her exhibition Unlearning Optical Illusions. At first sight, Johannessen’s works evoke connotations to the patterns found on West-African textiles but at a closer look, these patterns explore and challenges early theories on optical illusions.

In this interview with artist Franz Schmidt by Gjertrud Steinsvåg we are introduced to the exhibition Weaving Fabrics for Suits at Oslo Art Society and Schmidt’s experience working with decommissioned industrial woollen mills.

Ceramic artist and curator Heidi Bjørgan's exhibition The Story of an Affair at Nordenfjeldske Kunstindustrimuseum in Trondheim is a complete installation, mixing museum artefacts, music, and scenography with new ceramic works by Bjørgan herself. In this article by art historian Jorunn Veiteberg we're invited to take a closer look at the exhibition as a cabinet of curiosities.

In this interview with Stian Korntved Ruud: by Tora Endestad Bjørkheim and Johnny Herbert we learn more about Ruud's exploratory practice, driven by artistic research and curiosity.

In this interview by Tora Endestad Bjørkheim and Johnny Herbert, Norwegian artist Lillian Tørlen reveals her thoughts on materials, vases and the importance of the exhibition site.

Under the term ‘composite ceramics’, artist Jens Erland combines mechanical elements, performance, and industrial materials into ceramic sculptures and objects. In this interview by Mariann Enge we’re introduced to his work, and how coincidence and growing up close to agricultural industry shaped his path to ceramic art.

This essay by Toril Moi investigates the power of textiles, as a potentially feminist endeavour. The essay was published in the exhibition catalogue for Ode til en Vaskeklut, Hymne til en Tiger, a survey of textile art from Norway in connection with the 40th anniversary of Norwegian Textile Artists (2017).

In this interview, Ellen Grieg talks about dyeing processes, working sculpturally with rope and her artistic practice as a long-term research project

British artist Grayson Perry is a television star and transvestite whose best friend is a teddy bear. But he believes that making ceramic vases is far more provocative. In this interview by Kristin Valla we get an insight into his practice as a ceramic and textile artist.

In this interview Elisabeth von Krogh talks about caricatured expressions, optical illusions and the vessel as form.

In this conversation with artist Aslaug Juliussen, Hilde Sørstrøm delves into Juliussen's sustainable approach to material transformation. While her installations and sculptures are made using materials and technique from her Sámi heritage, Juliussen always seek to evolve and transform the materials into something new.

In this article, Anne Britt Ylvisåker writes about the craft artists Marit Tingleff, Kari Dyrdal and Torbjørn Kvasbø and their strong connection and impact on the development of the craft education in Bergen, Norway.

In this essay curator and duojár Gry-Kristina Fors Spein reflects on the Sámi concept of duodji as a starting point for artistic practice.

Iver Jåks' artistic talent became obvious during a long period of hospitalisation following a reindeer herding accident in his youth, and he was admitted to the Sámi folk high school in 1950, when he was 18 years old. Set on becoming an artist he later attended the Norwegian National Academy of Craft and Art Industry and later the Art Academy in Copenhagen. His artistic practice incorporated Sámi duodji objects, materials, and techniques, in addition to drawing, large-scale sculptures and art in public space. In this article by Irene Snarby we learn about the life and art of Iver Jåks, and about duodji as a contemporary art practice.

In this essay, Sofia M. Ciel examines the work of Karen Kviltu Lidal, which explores society, architecture, and public life from the starting point of the physical body. Kviltu Lidal moves freely between art forms such as weaving, installation, and video documentation, but textiles prevail as her basic point of reference in both the metaphorical and literal sense.

Jessica Hemmings sat down with Ezra Shales to speak with him about topics he raises in his book The Shape of Craft. The book considers how things get made and the people who make them. In this conversation, Hemmings talks with Shales about industry, technology and material empathy.

The internationally acclaimed Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930–2017) contributed to a new epoch in textile art in the 1960s. Her exhibitions in Norway triggered increased interest in textile-based art in the country, and her authoritative attitude as a female artist was pioneering. In this article by Runa Boger we learn more about her influence on the next generation of textile artists.

In this essay, artist and critic Tommy Olsson reflects on John K. Raustein's exhibition When Everything Falls into Place that was exhibited at Kunstnerforbundet in Oslo, in 2019 – an immersive, site-specific textile installation.

In this interview by Johnny Herbert, Tron Meyer and Kent Fonn Skåre offer perspectives on their multi-faceted practices within art, craft, design, and architecture.

In this conversation, Irene Snarby talks to duojar Perisak Juuso about the landscape and Sámi place names, and about the in-depth knowledge you need in order to find the right burls, roots or antlers to make beautiful duodji.

Marit Tingleff makes large earthenware dishes that won’t fit on a dining table. In this interview by Christer Dynna she relates this format to the porcelain and fine china that was once part of a broad culture and tradition carried mainly by women, and which has since been relegated to flea markets or – at best – the kitchen cupboard.

Inger Blix Kvammen's artistic practice relies on a vast number of connections with individuals and communities from around the world. Memories from her travels to Northwest Russia, to Nenets Autonomous Okrug, Southern Caucasus, Turkey and Armenia lay the foundation for the objects she constructs back home in her studio in Hessing, a few kilometres outside of Kirkenes in Finnmark, Norway. In this interview by Hilde Sørstrøm we gain a closer insight into her process.

In this interview, matt lambert converses with multidisciplinary artist Ahmed Umar on materiality, craft-based art, and how storytelling emerges as a form of activism in Umar's artistic practice.

In this essay, art critic Tommy Olsson reflects on Ingrid Askeland and Hilde Jørgensen's exhibition Manic Monday, a dystopian installation of ceramic sculptures, photography and collage, that was on display at Kunstnerforbundet in Oslo in the autumn of 2019.

In this interview by Lars Elton with ceramicist Sidsel Hanum we learn about her work using liquid porcelain and a technique known as horning, which allows her to construct vessels and objects, laced with intricate detail.

For many years Sigurd Bronger was an outsider in contemporary art jewellery, but now he enjoys increasing attention. In this interview by Reinhold Ziegler we learn about Bronger's way to jewellery, and how expressing absurdity has become his hallmark.

In this interview with craft writer, curator and editor Glenn Adamson by André Gali we are introduced to the concept of post-disciplinary practice, and a discussion on a converging visual art scene, where craft no longer takes the back seat.

Plastic toy animals, crocheting in yarn, and precious metals, are some of the elements Felieke van der Leest combines to make exciting, humorous, and absurd jewellery. Central to van der Leest's artistic practice is a fascination with the animal kingdom. Using toys and ready-mades she transformers animal figurines into near-human subjects, complete with clothes and sunglasses. In this interview by André Gali we learn more about her approach to making jewellery.

Nanna Melland is known for making jewellery with unorthodox materials. In this interview by Monica Holmen we are introduced to her practice which spans from personal jewellery to public installations.

The Swedish-Norwegian textile artist Hannah Ryggen (1894-1970) wove tapestries using locally sourced wool and plant dyes from her and her artist husband Hans Ryggen’s farm on Fosen, by the Trondheim fjord; yet her activist tapestries offer a rich political commentary on global events such as Mussolini’s invasion of Ethiopia, the Vietnam war, and Nazism’s emergence in Europe. In this article by Line Ulekleiv, we are invited to investigate the relevance of Ryggen’s practice in contemporary society, and the reasons behind her rising popularity in recent years.

Torbjørn Kvasbø defines himself as an abstract expressionist and is known for burning his monumental sculptures in the large, woodburning kiln in his backyard. In this interview by André Gali, we learn about Torbjørn Kvasbø’s road to ceramics and how exhibiting, networking, and teaching, across three continents, has contributed to his standing as one of the world’s leading ceramic artists.

Rasmussen’s artistic practice combines different expressions related to other craft traditions and painting. Her works are characterised by bold colours and geometric patterns juxtaposed with floral imagery. In this article by Marit Øydegard we get a closer look at the exhibition 'Retellings and Myths', a collaboration with Terje Nordby – a playwright, radio celebrity and ‘mythologist in private practice.’ The textiles themselves tell stories, but through Nordby’s reflections, they take on an added dimension.

Artist Liv Blåvarp creates spectacular and sculptural necklaces and bracelets out of wood. Her creations are built by individually shaping smaller pieces of wood and joining them together in a spiraling construction, for maximum wearability. In this interview by Reinhold Ziegler we learn more about how Blåvarp came to work with wood, and how she developed the technical competence to create wearable pieces of art.

'Tone Vigeland: Hands on' is an interview with the jewellery artist Tone Vigeland by Reinhold Ziegler. Tone Vigeland’s art springs from a direct encounter between her hands and her materials. For more than fifty years, she has created jewellery and sculptures that combine simple craft techniques with stringent aesthetics – works apparently liberated from any possible intellectual approach. Perhaps this is why people the world over describe her art as both timeless and placeless, and sometimes even magical.

An interview with artist Kiyoshi Yamamoto by André Gali

A conversation between Zoe Black and Aotearoa New Zealand art collective Mata Aho

An interview one of Norway's foremost textile artists through several decades, Brit Fuglevaag, by Zoe Black

In this conversation between curator and artistic director Maria Ragnestam and artist Erika Stöckel we learn more about how Stöckel builds her large-scale ceramic installations, starting from a theme and using historical photography, cultural preconditions, and shame as her inspiration.

 In this conversation we meet the curator team behind the Sino-Norwegian ceramics exhibition Beyond G(l)aze, consisting of two Norwegian and two Chinese curators: Heidi Bjørgan, Bjørn Inge Follevaag, Feng Boyi and Wang Dong. Here they discuss their experience working with the exhibition, after the initial showing of the exhibition in China.

An interview with textile artist and musician Pearla Pigao by Tora Endestad Bjørkheim and Johnny Herbert

An interview with craft artist Sigve Knutson by Tora Endestad Bjørkheim and Johnny Herbert

Namita Gupta Wiggers in conversation with Joar Nango about shelter, nomadism, and the Sámi concept of duodji