THE COLD STITCH-TEXTILE TAKEOVER 2026

In the Nordic countries, stitching has long been more than decoration or domestic craft. It is a necessity, a form of storytelling, survival, memory, and care. In landscapes shaped by cold climates and long winters, textiles have become vessels of warmth, protection, repair, and continuity, carrying traces of everyday life and cultural identity across generations.

THE COLD STITCH brings together artists from across Scandinavia whose practices engage with textiles as both material and language. Through quilting, patchwork, collage, weaving, hand embroidery, sculptural textiles, and visible and invisible stitching, this exhibition explores how textile traditions have continued to evolve within contemporary art. The exhibition’s title refers both to the geography of the North, the relationship with textiles and the act of stitching itself.

A stitch repairs, connects, layers, and transforms. It binds fragments together while allowing histories, emotions, reflections on the political climate, and personal narratives to remain visible. Echoing this feature, many of the works in the exhibition embrace reuse and transformation, giving discarded fabrics, garments, yarns, and textile remnants new meaning through the artistic process.

THE COLD STITCH celebrates textile art as a living and evolving practice deeply rooted in the cultures of the North, where there is a strong tradition of working with textiles as an art form and where stitching continues to mend, preserve, and reimagine the world around us.

Featured Artists include:
Margrethe Aanestad (Norway)
Valgerður Bergsdottir (Iceland)
Ellen Dynebrink (Sweden)
Ragna Froda (Iceland)
Heidi Hankaniemi (Finland)
Ingunn Fjóla IngÞórsdóttir (Iceland)
Lee Jensen (Denmark)
Andrea Magdalena Jonsdottir (Iceland)
John K. Raustein (Norway)
Randi Samsonsen (Faroe Islands) 
Sunna Sigfríðardóttir (Iceland)
Nora Martine Hjelle Strand (Norway)
Thórunn Elísabet Sveinsdóttir (Tótalisa) (Iceland)
Josabet Werkmäster (Sweden)
Mette Winckelmann (Denmark)
Kiyoshi Yamamoto (Norway) 

THE COLD STITCH is CURATED BY RAGNA FRODA. The exhibition is a part of the Nordic Textile Takeover program At the Scandinavian House. The Nordic Textile Takeover is a collaboration project co-organized by Ragna Froda (ISL/US), Director of New York Textile Month, and Emily Stoddart (CA), Manager of Exhibitions and Community Programs at Scandinavia House, New York. The exhibition has been curated by Ragna Froda (ISL/US).