Fabric of Society is a collaboration between Stine Linnemann and Rosa Tolnov Clausen. It’s a project where we look at society through the gaze of textile making.
In this season of the podcast we are exploring loom production in the Nordic region over the past 150 years and up until today. Weaving is known as a tool-heavy craft and most weavers are aware that there exists different kinds of looms, but little attention has been paid to loom design and its influence on the craft of textile making.
In this series we travel to Vejen in Denmark to explore the archives of Danish loom manufacturer Lervad, to Finland where we visit the family owned business Toika and finally to Norway where we meet Vibeke Vestby, the founder of Digital Weaving Norway.
You can listen to the Fabric of Society podcast on Apple and Spotify.
Below you can find both a playlist with all three episodes of this season as well as the interviews that were conducted for this podcast in full.
Podcast soundscape by Marco Madia.
Full interview with Kathrine Vestergaard Brandstrup as conducted by Rosa Tolnov Clausen. Parts of this interview were used for the first episode of Fabric of Society’s second season Nordic Looms, where we dive into the history of Danish loom manufacturer Lervad.
Kathrine Vestergaard Brandstrup is an archeologist who is very passionate about textiles. Among her many projects, she is part of Save The Loom in collaboration with Copenhagen University’s Textile Research Centre.
Full interviews with Jukka and Mona Yrjölä from the Finnish loom manufacturer Toika as conducted by Rosa Tolnov Clausen and Stine Linnemann. Parts of these interviews were used for the second episode of Fabric of Society’s second season Nordic Looms, where we dive into the history of Finnish loom manufacturer Toika.
The loom manufacturer Toika is based in Toijala in Finland. The company has existed for almost 130 years, starting with reed production and later transitioning to making hand looms, which is still their main business to this day. Technical innovation and changing conditions for manufacturing has influenced Toika’s operations across the decades from industrialisation to the emergence of computers.
Full interview with Vibeke Vestby, founder of loom manufacturer Digital Weaving Norway as conducted by Stine Linnemann. Parts of this interview was used for the third episode of Fabric of Society’s second season Nordic Looms, where we dive into the history of Norwegian loom manufacturer Digital Weaving Norway.
Vibeke Vestby founded Digital Weaving Norway in 1995. In this interview we trace the development of their TC looms from Vibeke’s early experience as a hand weaver to where the company is today. Thanks to an innovation grant from the Norwegian state, as well as a close collaboration with Tronrud Engineering, Digital Weaving Norway has been able to cater not only to craft interested handweavers but also work closely with institutions and researchers working in the field of technical innovation.
