SuoMu & Social Rug workshop at the Frítt Flog festival in the Faroe Islands

SuoMu was invited to join the Frítt Flog festival that was held in The Nordic House in the Faroe Islands (in Faroese:Norðurlandahúsið). We arranged two workshops during the festival: the classic Social Rug workshop, where participants create together a colorful and fun wall hanging. Second, we had a sketchbooking session with optional prompts to spark ideas. The Nordic House staff and workshop participants gave us a warm welcome and the whole experience was one to remember – the scenery, architecture, people we met. Simply wonderful!

During Social Rug workshop participants create a rug by knotting and braiding fabric string to the rug base. The style is free! The basic rug knot is one way to do it, but if you look closely at the rug, there are all kinds of knots and styles to attach the fabric string. It is a fun and easy activity for all ages and the result is colorful and bright community created wall hanging. 

We had participants from local schools and kindergarten. With the teachers we discussed how this can be used as a break activity or as one way to study some phenomenon – maybe you put a picture of a map under the base and create a map rug? 

We also had a sketchbooking session with SuoMu’s own sketchbooks that were given to the participants. This was a well-liked activity, where some visitors spent a good hour drawing together. 

The Nordic house itself is a beautiful architectural attraction. The house brings together materials, building techniques and furniture design from all Nordic countries. Finland is present in the Alvar Aalto furniture, visible especially in the entrance hall. The building has the Faroese grass roof and a silhouette that makes the building blend in the scenery. 

On top of everything, we had an opportunity to see local band KATA who sang traditional songs in Faroese. This was a lovely experience and an opportunity to experience the modern take on local traditional songs and the language. The Faroese scenery, knitting, sheep, architecture and culture made a strong impression on us and we wish to visit Faroe Islands again – rather sooner than later! 

SuoMu instructors visiting Nordic House: Anna Kokki & Maria Mattsson
Text and images: Anna Kokki & Maria Mattsson.