Weaving DNA

Abstract

Weaving DNA is an immersive textile exhibition borne from a collaboration between Icelandic product designer Hanna Dís Whitehead and Scottish textile designer Claire Anderson. Together they re-appropriate traditional Nordic and Scottish textiles, examining the ways in which these represent and shape aspects of national identity. Layers of textiles describe the cultural fusion of a speculative Nordic Scottish tribe and the complexity of definitions of identity. The exhibition presents a multivalent view of national identity by embracing individuality and provoking possibilities in interpretation. Significantly, the protagonist of the exhibition was a ‘Normcore Tribesman’, which is digitally printed on a silk organza alongside two Nordic Scottish totems made from a combination of Icelandic and Scottish wool. The exhibition also included an Icelandic wool infinity sweater, constructed using the infinity knotting technique associated with Viking folklore. Driven by a desire to create a common material identity drawing on the Nordic and Scottish region’s shared cultural, historical and geographical roots, Weaving DNA combines innovative design approaches with the experience of cultural and social hybridity from the perspective of both designers’ influences