Projects past

Here is an overview of some of the projects we initiated / led / collaborated on in recent years: 

,,Heldurðu Þræði" (2022 - 2023). Textile (business) innovation course developed and taught via the University of Iceland in collaboration with the Textile Center and in connection with Centrinno.  The 9-week course started on September 20, 2022 and ended in November with a visit and award ceremony at the TextileLab in Blönduós.  A second instalment was held from February 7 - May 13, 2023. Winning ideas in 2022 were Linda Friðriksdóttir: "Húseinangrun" (using wool for building isolation) -  Kristín S Gunnarsdóttir: "Mjúkull - yfirdýna fyrir náttúrubörn" (duvet cover made from wool) - Elín Jóna Traustadóttir: "VæruKær kúrukoddi" (pillow filled with Icelandic wool). In 2023, the following projects were selected: "Klæðaverslun Freyju Sjafnar" (circular economy focused shop selling recycled items and materials in Reykjavík); "Pappírsmylan" Kristveig (workshops on paper making and product development: craft supplies and items made from locally growing plants); "Heyband" Raghildur Hemmert Sigurðardóttir (making yarn from leftover fibres from the band used for baling mixed with wool). 

 2021 - 2022:  The Textile Center participates in Shemakes, a two-year project under the Europe Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.The goal is to empower future female innovators of the sustainable fashion industry through inspiration, skills and networks. Working as a community, Shemakes provides innovative learning paths for girls and women of various ages, and concrete business support and connections to assist female entrepreneurs.  www.shemakes.eu        

Prjónagleði: The Icelandic Knit Fest is an annual event in Blönduós organised by the Textile Center. Festival activities include many different workshops on a wide range of knitting topics, lectures, sightseeing trips to local knitting and textile sites of interest, market place, and a themed knitting competition. In 2022, the festival was held from June 10-12.

Iceland Field School (2022). Iceland Field School is a mixed-level, transdisciplinary university credit course conceived and designed by Dr. Kathleen Vaughan of Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) in association with the Textile Center. Based on her own transformative artistic residency at Ós Residency in June 2016, Kathleen began to dream of returning to Iceland with Concordia University students, and so to conceptualize and work towards creating a credit-earning field school residency in Blönduós. With the strong support of Concordia University, June 2018 was the inaugural session of this initiative in place-based learning.  13 students worked on site to explore aspects of arts, community, environmentalism, tourism and museology, often with a textile inflection. In June 2022, the project returned to Iceland with 16 new students. Check the project website for more info and the blog for their posts. The curricular initiative aligns with Kathleen’s research and creation trajectories as Concordia University Research Chair in Art+Education for Sustainable and Just Futures. Iceland Field School will be back in Blönduós in June 2023. 

Ullarþon (2021). Icelandic wool-themed idea/invention marathon ("ull" = Icelandic for wool) hosted by the Icelandic Textile Center in collaboration with Innovation Center Iceland, funded by the Agricultural Productivity Fund. See more info on the right. 

Boðflenna (2021). Exhibition by Hrafnhildur Arnardóttir (Shoplifter) on Hrútey island in Blönduós from July 3 - August 28, 2021. Initiated by Áslaug Thorlacius and Finnur Arnar - http://akleifum.is/ in collaboration with Blönduós municipality, the Icelandic Textile Center, and Íslandsstofa; funded by Uppbyggingarsjóði Norðurlands vestra, Myndstefi and Myndlistarsjóði.