Projects past

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

CENTRINNO (2020 - 2024): The Textile Center, in collaboration with the University of Iceland, participated in the European project CENTRINNO ("New CENTRalities in INdustrial areas as engines for inNOvation and urban transformation") under the research and innovation programme Horizon 2020. The project started in September 2020 and aimed to revitalise once thriving industrial areas using cultural heritage as its inspiration.  Partners included WAAG and Metabolic Institute in Amsterdam, Volumes and Sony CLS in Paris, IAAC in Barcelona, ​​the Danish Design Center in Copenhagen, FabLab Zagreb, Tallinn University of Technology, Comune di Milano and WeMake Milan. For Iceland, one of the main aims was to further develop the Textile Center in Blönduós as a creative hub and TextileLab. The University of Iceland contributed to the theoretical foundation of the hub by conducting research on the current situation and historical heritage of domestic crafts and textile work in Iceland.  Within the framework of the project,  the Textile Center and collaborators hosted the idea competition Ullarþon and taught the program "Heldurþú Þræði" for textile entrepreneurs (see also below). https://centrinno.eu/

Fabricademy (2022-2023): The Textile Center became an official part of  the Fabricademy network in 2022. We hosted the 6th edition of Fabricademy - a transdisciplinary program focusing on the development of new technologies applied in the textile industry from September 2022 - April 2023. www.textile-academy.org

Fjólublár (2023-2024): The project "PurpleBlue" is a collaboration of the Textile Center of Iceland, Biopol in Skagaströnd and Ístex. The goal is to create a sustainable dyeing process for Icelandic wool and focuses on purple dye production from the bacterium Janthinobacterium lividum. The project seeks to refine the conditions for the bacteria to produce purple shades by using various waste materials as a base for the bacteria to grow, and ensure an environmentally sustainable production of dye for textile dyeing. The project received funding from the SSNV 2023 Development Fund.

"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). 

Fibre Focus (2023): Collaboration of Sommerakademiet and the Textile Center on "Wool as a shared Cultural Heritage and Art”. Funded by Kulturdirektoratet Norsk-islandsk kultursammarbejd. Read the final report here. 

"Wool in the North“ (2021 - 2023): Collaboration with Sommer Akademiet in Norway and partners in Scotland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands, led by the Textile Center. The main aim was to develop textile and wool themed slow tourism in partnering countries. NORA provided full funding for the project in 2021 and then again in 2022. In 2021, proposals for travel packages in the four respective countries were made, stakeholders mapped and data collected for the shared database. In July 2022, partners met in Greenland to work on next steps and present the project at the North Atlantic Native Sheep and Wool Conference, and in the Faroe Islands in September 2022. The last meeting was held in Iceland in spring 2023. In September 2023, the tours were presented at a travel conference in Denmark. On the Textile Center's Youtube page, there's a selection of videos from the project.

SHEMAKES (2021 - 2022):  The Textile Center participated in Shemakes, a two-year project under the Europe Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. The goal was 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.

,,ALLURE”: Erasmus+ funded project focused on adult education, crafts, textile and design, led by the Ministry of Education in Galicia, Spain, in collaboration with institutions in Iceland, Portugal and Poland. Homepage: https://allureculture.eu/en

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.