Queen Sonja and Princess Astrid Open the Exhibition Threads in Time

Queen Sonja of Norway and Princess Astrid attended the opening of the exhibition “Threads in Time – From the National Tapestries to the Royal Tapestry” at the Queen Sonja Art Stable in Oslo. The tapestries are displayed alongside Gerhard Munthe’s original designs, specially loaned by the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen and the Trondheim Art Museum.

The exhibition Threads in Time presents a selection of tapestries from the Royal Collections spanning the revival of tapestry weaving in Norway in the 1890s to the years following the Second World War. It features woven works by leading Norwegian artists and craftspeople, shaped by national handicraft traditions and the use of local wool and plant-based dyes.

These monumental works, woven under the direction of Frida Hansen after designs by Gerhard Munthe, were awarded a gold medal at the 1900 Paris World’s Fair. For many years, the National Tapestries hung in the Palace’s upper vestibule as a national symbol but were later removed to ensure their preservation for future generations. Several of the tapestries are ordinarily part of private interiors and are being displayed publicly for the very first time.