The Icelandic Textile Center is situated in the scenic seaside Northwestern town of Blonduos, Iceland. Founded in 2005 and now merged with the Blonduos Academic Center (Pekkingarsetur), the Icelandic Textile Center aims to promote and develop Icelandic and international textiles. It collaborates on research projects in areas important to the region and encourages collaboration, education, and innovation in the field of textiles, textile art and design. Domiciled under the roof of the historical building of Kvennaskolinn, a former Women's College, Os Residency provides visiting students, scholars, and artists with working spaces to conduct their artistic practice, research, and study-trips within textiles. The Center is led by a governing board that comprises representatives from universities, regional municipalities, associations and businesses, including the Association of Municipalities in Northwest Iceland, Reykjavik School of Visual Art and Icelandic University of the Arts.
What’s the history behind your hub?
K: The Textile Center as it is today was built on the foundations of other institutions: a previous textile centre and an academic centre. They were founded in 2005 and 2012 respectively and had the job of building opportunities, developing university education and facilitating research in the region of North-West Iceland. The current Textile Centre was founded in 2019 and it is now solely focusing on textile in all its varieties.
Over time, it became more and more obvious that in textiles there was a niche and an opportunity to create new projects and more beneficial activities. The University Centre had a contract with the Ministry of Education, which put in the agenda the plan to invest in this region building on its strengths.
E: In the beginning, it was a very small team with employees in half-time positions. At the University Centre they had two researchers in a half-time position. The team was built partly by the people already working here from the previous institution, and partly by new staff. The board is composed of representatives of public service institutions, associations, and businesses. There is one member chosen by the general assembly to ensure that the professional part of the different aspects of textile are included. It’s a very professional and good mixture of actors coming together.
Why did you choose to base your hub in this area?
E: The North-West of Iceland is a sheep-farming region, deep in textiles history. Blönduós in particular has a wool washery and the only Icelandic museum of textiles, but the Textile Centre caters for the whole of Iceland, not just the region.
K: The Textile Center is also based in a heritage building - a former women’s college - and this emphasises the importance of wool textile research and innovation tied with the heritage of this particular territory.
What did you manage to (re)build in your territory?
E: If you say “textile”, people in Iceland think of middle-aged women, so it was a challenge to make people understand that textiles are also an interesting technology for innovation.
The Icelandic Textile Center put the spotlight on local farmers and the local resources they are producing - wool.
K: In Iceland, there is a high demand for wool but a decreasing number of farmers, because sheep meat is no longer a valuable product. This transition is taking too much time for farmers to adapt, so it’s a very hot topic.
For this reason, the Textile Center doesn’t want to generalise about sheep farmers. Instead, they gave the sheep farmers of the region the opportunity to work with them. The objective was to prove that sheep farmers want to be innovative too - something that was not being acknowledged publicly.
We bought equipment that allows us to focus on the raw material that is locally accessible.
E: Through a big survey, the Textile Center asked every sheep farmer of Iceland - with more than 50% answering rate - for their interest in innovative practices. It was a very good basis to share common interests.
K: There are multiple access points for sheep farmers. Sometimes, they are asked to speak in some of the Center’s conferences. There are events where they could participate to develop new ideas and products. They also have access to the educational programs, workshops and open houses.
E: The Textile Center has kept in mind the traditional Icelandic wool for all the equipment in the lab. We did not buy a digital textile printer, because it’s not environmentally friendly and they don’t have locally the suitable material for it. Instead, we bought the equipment that allows us to focus on the raw material that is locally accessible. The Center is interested in other materials too, like plants, fish skin, natural dying and seaweed, a product widely present in Iceland.
We organised a “woolathon” working with the wool that has a very low price because it is considered waste fabric.
K: It’s a matter of sustainability and of creating opportunities in the region, in a country where the majority of products are imported and it is difficult to be sustainable.
E: We also develop educational programs with the University of Iceland. There are collaborations where students are hosted for training with digital and traditional equipment, and we developed an online course for textile entrepreneurs. We are collaborating with the University of Reykjavik - the department of engineering - to make machines that allow us to work with very harsh plants. Fabricademy started in September so we have students living locally. We organised a “woolathon” working with the wool that has a very low price because it is considered waste fabric.
Did Blönduós change after the foundation of the Icelandic Textile Center?
K: We are not sure how Blönduós has changed. People are aware of us, there are many entry points. Blonduos wouldn’t be so international, with the artists in residency, the scholars and field school. We have up to 40 people here every month coming from all around the world, in a town of 940 inhabitants, you do notice the difference.
We decided to focus more on the environmental aspect of textiles and we want to be able to create courses for teachers in grammar schools, so we are working to get certified.
We have focused a lot on the local teachers, so they are more aware of all textiles-related topics. The local government is part of the board. We invited them to a workshop here, and it really changed the perception of textile, which is now becoming part of the strategic planning for regional development.
How do you envision the future?
E: We will be more professional, working with local materials. We will have an impact on the whole of Iceland, working with the community, the universities and the research institutes. We decided to focus more on the environmental aspect of textiles and we want to be able to create courses for teachers in grammar schools, so we are working to get certified.
K: We are getting quite skilled in the rural dimension, coping with sustainability threats. We are a valuable collaborator, also for those hubs in bigger cities, they can learn from hubs in the rural areas. We are transferring local knowledge through the CENTRINNO project. Networks are really important, it’s quite unusual that such a small reality is part of such a large EU project. It's like oxygen for us.
Spotlight Practice 1: Catalogue of International residencies
Residencies are a means to bring oxygen to the organisation. They are designed to be self-sufficient as much as possible. Accommodations are in and around the Center’s building, everything is very contained and the experience of community is a big part of it, as work facilities and living accommodations are shared. Artists have an exhibition or an open studio at the end of the residency (1-3 months). Every year, a professional publication of the exhibitions is released, which showcases and connects everyone who worked in the residency.
Spotlight Practice 2: Focus on international networks
International networks are a vital aspect for a small organisation, as they facilitate staying up to date with what happens in the global scene. The Icelandic Textile Center is part of ECHN, Fabricademy, Shemakes, CENTRINNO and its own network of international artists and universities.
Elsa Arnardòttir and Katharina Schneider, Director and Project Manager of the Icelandic Textile Center. They explained the role of their hub in the centre of a nation-wide network of users, stakeholders and artisans.
