Top left: Villvin Arts & Crafts Market surrounded by Risør harbour and white wooden houses. Photo: Christian Ellingsgård. Below left: Latimeria pasta server, designed by Juha Luukkonen. Photo courtesy of the artist. Below right: Redesign by Maria Rodrigues. Photo courtesy of the artist. Above: Vase by Villvin co-founder Bibiche Mourier. Photo: Mona Rhein.
Craft is cool Forty years ago, a group of young craft artists settled in Risør, a small town on the southern coast of Norway. They created Villvin, an arts and crafts centre that would develop and expand over the years while putting its mark on the city. By Marte Eide
“Craft is cool at the moment; we are experiencing a renaissance for crafts in Norway where people seem to grow more interested in eco-friendly, locally produced, quality products,” says ceramist and co-owner Nina Gresvig, who joined Villvin in 1980. In 1988, the group established Galleri Villvin, where currently more than a hundred Norwegian and Scandinavian artisans are exhibiting ceramics, glass works, jewellery, textiles and artwork in many other materials. “The gallery has customers all over Norway and we arrange for the craft works to be sent directly to your home,” explains Gresvig. “By doing so, we are able to provide high-quality art and crafts to people all year round.” 18 | Issue 90 | July 2016
Risør harbour and the surrounding white wooden houses create a beautiful backdrop for Villvin Arts & Crafts Market every year during the second weekend in July, inviting craft artists from throughout Norway as well as the other Scandinavian countries. This is the largest arts and crafts market in Norway and a unique arena for direct contact between the participating artists and a large number of visitors. This weekend, Risør is the place where you find more high-quality crafts than any other place in Scandinavia. Every year the Sparebanken Sør Award is handed to a standout craft artist. “The award is meant to serve as an inspiration for the artists,” says Gresvig, who has
been a member of the jury several times. Daily workshops for children are popular and this summer textile artist Maria Rodrigues will lead a workshop where the children will embroider a heart onto an old linen napkin. She will also host an art performance as part of the market. Villvin was awarded the Risør Municipality Honorary Award in 2015 for its contribution to the local community. “We are continuously working to ensure high quality throughout both the Villvin Arts & Crafts Market and Galleri Villvin,” says Gresvig. “We have a strategy to involve more of the younger generations, and one way of doing this is to approach students. By looking to the future, we are challenging ourselves to think about the next 40 years to come.”
For more information, please visit: www.villvin.no
