iTEXTILIS site  |  In 2025, an update of The IK Foundation’s organisation and digital world will begin to meet the needs of the future – we call it NETWORK IK v.4 – to be developed organically as branches in a tree at its own pace!

A new series of long-read essays will start to be published in June 2024. This is the continuous result of the research project, with a planned sequel of around twenty essays – all freely available under a Creative Commons license. You are welcome to take part in this new project, with more information on the dedicated site THE STORY | FIELDWORK – THE LINNAEAN WAY.

This upcoming illustrated visual story will focus on rag rug weaving in Sweden – a history of fabric recycling from the 18th century to the present. In particular, highlighting the popularity of this handicraft via an in-depth research of estate inventories, preserved 19th- and 20th century Swedish rugs, dictionaries, artworks, photographs, a selected number of books on rugs made of rags and my practical weaving of rag rugs.

The textile history essays will continue in 2024 – under a Creative Commons license and accessible for everyone to read. | Explore more at 'TEXTILIS Essays' (175 essays, from 2013 to 2023). Some of the upcoming essays look closely into a wide range of observations made by 18th-century naturalists on long-distance voyages, biographical stories with a textile perspective, natural dyeing and historical reproduction of lace.

This essay; ’Pollution and Health – Textile Observations by 18th Century Naturalists’ – gives an in-depth look at pollution, environment and health during the 1740s to 1790s. They were foremost focusing on dyeing cloth and yarn, finding new functional raw materials, washing becoming black dotted outdoors, and ship sails being brittle. The essay looks closer at such observations in travel journals etc. by Carl Linnaeus, his apostles and other naturalists in their network – in Sweden, England, the North American colonies and Japan. | Explore this and more essays at  'TEXTILIS Essays'.

A visit to Iceland – in the ongoing Bridge Builder Expeditions within The IK Foundation | The IK Workshop Society –  in Vatnajökull National Park will follow up on last year’s project. From a textile perspective, wool and natural dyeing traditions will also be studied closely.

The textile history essays will continue in 2023 – under a Creative Commons license and free for everyone to read. | Explore more at 'TEXTILIS Essays' (156 essays, from 2013 to 2022). Some of the upcoming essays look closely into; laundry tools, natural dyeing, “from flax to linen”, the Swedish East India textile trade and observations made by 18th-century naturalists on long-distance voyages. 

This upcoming richly illustrated visual story will focus on local everyday lives, tourism, trade, shops, manufacture and transport in the period 1780s to 1914 in Whitby along the North Yorkshire coast. Look out for this story – based on Viveka Hansen’s book ‘The Textile History of Whitby 1700-1914’ – in late October! An extended selection of local pictures will further emphasise the importance of textiles from a multitude of aspects.

The coming two months will mainly be dedicated to planning and fieldwork for the ongoing Bridge Builder Expeditions – Iceland, within The IK Foundation. An upcoming essay will also be part of this project, named ‘Textile Observations on Iceland in 1772 – A Case Study of Uno von Troil’s Life and Journeys’.

Upcoming essays will look closely at an armchair upholstered with a French silk brocade and English furniture with embroidered upholstery – original pieces dating between 1735 and 1760. The well-preserved textiles have been studied in great detail; including weaving respectively embroidery techniques, preferred colours of the period, skilful designers, weavers and embroiderers. Rococo and naturalism influences are also clearly visible in these complex designs. Textiles, which are on display in the furnished rooms of European 18th Century Art at the David Collection in København, Denmark, and to my knowledge, have not been analysed previously from a textile perspective.

The textile history essays will continue in 2022 - under a Creative Commons license and free for everyone to read. | Explore more at 'TEXTILIS Essays' (139 essays, from 2013 to 2021). The two first upcoming essays will look closely at a historical reproduction of mittens in the needle-binding technique and 18th century cabinets of curiosities from a textile perspective.

The project ”Personal Belongings and Collections on 18th Century Travels” continues, with research trips to Danish collections/archives in September and October.

Monthly essays will be published as usual on TEXTILIS. The focus of the three forthcoming essays will be 18th century textiles, sources of light, smells and natural history journeys – in a global perspective.

Cotton, natural dyes, linen and textile trade from India, Yemen, Syria, Cyprus and other areas along the route were observed by the cartographer Carsten Niebuhr in his travel journal and historical descriptions from 1761 to 1767. After somewhat more than two years of travel however, the Royal Danish Expedition to Arabia sadly lost five of its six members due to illnesses over several months in the year 1763. This upcoming serial of three essays – in April, May and June – will give some background information about the participants, but foremost emphasise on textile perspectives during the continuous part of the expedition, which lasted from July 1763 and up to the time when Niebuhr returned back to Denmark in November 1767.

The first three picture galleries will be presented during the coming month, with photographs connected to Viveka Hansen’s early textile projects from the years 1983-2000. These pictures are part of a scanning and digitising project (presented in August last year on What’s On), that includes a wide selection of 18th- to 20th century Swedish textiles and connected objects initially used for publications or for research only. Equally as a wide range of unique pictures will be displayed from IK Foundation's international textile exhibitions, a book launch etc during the same period in time.

Watch this space for more information about the ongoing project on iTEXTILIS PICTURES!

The monthly essays will continue on TEXTILIS – Open Access under a Creative Commons license and free for everyone to read. During 2021, textile history will be looked at from a local as well as global perspective; including a historical reproduction of a Swedish sampler, portraits and “odd objects” related to textiles at a manor house in 1758, observations by 18th century long-distance travelling naturalists, advertisers looking for textile employees in Whitby Gazette from 1855 to 1914 and much more.

The very first published visual story on TEXTILIS looks closer into the Farmers’ Textile Art via local traditions as well as global influences during the 18th and 19th centuries. Artworks, photographs, estate inventories and preserved such textiles give a glimpse into the lives of female weavers and their living conditions in the farming communities, equally as the continuous interest for these beautiful furnishing textiles up to present-day has been highlighted. All displayed in fifty high-resolution pictures and informative text sections. This story is based on textile historian Viveka Hansen’s works of rölakan textiles over the past three decades. 

It is our pleasure to present the first iBOOK (TEXTILE SQUARES & ZIGZAGS...) on TEXTILIS! This inspiring source of information as well as useable research tool is a continuation of a textile research project, which stretched from the year 1985 to 1991, and came to be published in the Swedish language with the title Textila Kuber och Blixtar: Rölakanets Konst- och Kulturhistoria. A book which was primarily based on an in-depth inventory of almost 1,700 double interlocked tapestries in textile collections in northern Europe. It is here presented with an additional summarised English version – in the total of 330 pages. Notice that 200 detailed drawings of all designs/pattern combinations of this art weaving technique also are included in this digital scan.

A substantial collection of pictures will be scanned and digitised over the next coming years – starting this month – including the most rare and interesting pictures from TEXTILIS. This is an unusually multifaceted and unique collection of textile history related photographs, videos, art, patterns and much more amassed during 40 years of research around the world.

Watch this space for more information about the upcoming project!

During the (COVID-19) Coronavirus 2019-20 pandemic, work will be focused on writing book chapter/s and to further research the naturalists’ Instructions. All linked to the project ‘Personal Belongings and Collections on 18th Century Travels’.

Monthly essays will continue as usual on TEXTILIS.

Presentation of Viveka Hansen's monograph ‘Textile Squares & Zigzags: The Art and Cultural History of Double Interlocked Tapestries – Rölakan’. This very book is a continuation of a northern European textile research project, which stretched from the year 1985 to 1991, as well as being the last copies of the originally published classic book in the Swedish language with the title 'Textila Kuber och Blixtar: Rölakanets Konst- och Kulturhistoria'. It is here presented with an additional summarised English version to accompany the twenty remaining unbound copies of the 1992 print. A publication which was primarily based on an in-depth inventory of almost 1,700 double interlocked tapestries in textile collections in northern Europe. Please read more about the twenty unique and numbered hand bound copies.

The coming two months will mainly be dedicated to planning and fieldwork for the ongoing Bridge Builder Expeditions within The IK Foundation.

We are pleased to inform that two long-term projects are continuing on iTEXTILIS. The four-year research and publishing work “Personal belongings and Collections on 18th Century Travels” about the Linnaeus Apostles and their colleagues in a global perspective. Together with the digitisation work, translation etc based on Viveka Hansen’s first monograph Textila Kuber och Blixtar: Rölakanets Konst- och Kulturhistoria in 1992. In the short-term, monthly essays continue – Open Access under a Creative Commons license and free for everyone to read. The forthcoming essay will be published in early June.

Work is continuing on the iBOOK project and the final limited hand bound copies of this rare textile historical book. Fundraising for the textile history project is ongoing as well as a recent interesting visit to the Majgren Bookbinders in Copenhagen, including a closer look at their unique and beautiful selection of papers for handbook binding.

We are working on an exciting new project based on Viveka Hansen’s first major textile inventory, from 1984 to 1991, published as a Swedish monograph Textila Kuber och Blixtar: Rölakanets Konst- och Kulturhistoria in 1992. This new digitisation work will form an additional division on iTEXTILIS, under a Creative Commons license and free for everyone to read. Later on during this year; an extensive English summary of the printed book, translation of all captions, detailed information of the more than 1.600 researched double interlocked tapestries (rölakan), will be presented together with a full scan of the richly illustrated book. In 2020 the ongoing project is planned to search further funds to be able to scan Hansen’s original drawings – for every individual design – of these historically interesting as well as beautiful 18th and 19th century textiles.

The monthly essays continue on TEXTILIS - Open Access under a Creative Commons license and free for everyone to read. During 2019, textile history will be looked at from a local as well as global perspective; including fabrics sold at auctions in Whitby from 1860 to 1905, 18th century observations of tablecloths and mats on several continents by Carl Linnaeus' seventeen apostles, curtain arrangements at a manor house in 1758 etc. Please read more, the 100th essay will be published on 1st January!

For the last couple of months, the aim has been an in-depth research of correspondence linked to the complex network of natural historians et al. included in the project ‘Personal belongings and collections on 18th century travels’. Viveka Hansen is delighted that the close reading of a large number of letters written in Swedish, English and German have given rediscovered details about daily life and work within the Linnaean network, which will be part of the future publication. 

The monthly essays continue on TEXTILIS – Open Access under a Creative Commons license and free for everyone to read. If you missed the latest essay, please read more (ca 2200 words): ‘Second-hand Clothes & the Rag Trade – 1810s to 1910s in Whitby’. 

It was a great privilege to be a participant on Bridge Builder Expedition – Spitsbergen (Svalbard) Voyage III and visit the beautiful Nordøya, one of three small islands of Forlandsøyane in early September. Follow-up work continues over the coming months.

Explore more about ”PERSONAL BELONGINGS AND COLLECTIONS ON 18TH CENTURY TRAVELS”. A new research and publishing work about The Linnaeus Apostles and their colleagues in a global perspective. Including studies via fieldwork, travel journals, correspondence, inventory lists onboard ships/East India Companies, preserved chests and boxes, clothing, herbaria, artworks etc…

We are happy to announce that iTEXTILIS is now a fully functional division of The IK Workshop Society – a global and unique forum for all those interested in Natural & Cultural History from a Textile Perspective. Have a look in to our fascinating world of textile history – research, facts and monthly published essays.

Final preparation for the launch of TEXTILIS in The IK Workshop Society – essays will get a new and improved design, news pages be added etc. You are welcome to browse around, some pages are already live. The regularly published textile history essays will continue to be Open Access under a Creative Commons license and free for everyone to read.