EXHIBIT OPENING
Tattoos, Medievalism, and White Nationalism
with Lecture from Lindsey Row-Heyveld
June 9, 2023
7 PM - 8 PM
Nordia House & Livestream
FREE TO ALL; DONATIONS APPRECIATED
We will be welcoming our lecturer through livestream; she will not be in person and we will be livestreaming her presentation. This lecture will be livestreamed and in person; both options are available to the public.
This lecture explores how and why fantasies of medieval Europe, especially Scandinavia, have fueled the fires of white supremacy—and what we can do in response. Why are white supremacists so often sporting Nordic tattoos? Why are white supremacist groups fascinated by the ideas and images of medieval Scandinavia? Come and hear Row-Heyveld talk about how symbols intersect with the social issues of our time.
About Our Lecturer
Lindsey Row-Heyveld is Associate Professor of English at Luther College in Decorah, IA. She is the author of Dissembling Disability in Early Modern English Drama (Palgrave, 2018), as well as numerous articles on disability in the English Renaissance. She teaches courses on early English literature, Shakespeare, disability studies, film, and, sometimes, ghost stories. She is also a calligrapher.
About Our Exhibit
For more than 5,000 years, tattoos have been used to document the history of humanity one painful mark at a time. Spanning cultures and continents, tattooing has adorned European nobility and Native Americans, celebrities and Scandinavian sailors, punks and presidents, and seemingly everyone else in between. Today, tattoos have never been more popular.
Tattoos are so much more than decoration. Tattoos are a powerful visual language of the skin, and, like texts, they permanently record memories, life stories, and personal achievements.
Tattoo: Identity Through Ink tells the story of tattoos and the people who have them. We’ll explore the ways individual and group identities are formed, reinforced, and celebrated through tattoos. Of course, there is a Scandinavian connection–with celebrated artists like Norwegian Johan Frederik Knudsen and Norwegian-American Amund Dietzel, the question of whether or not Vikings had tattoos, and the rise of a whole modern Neo-Nordic style of tattooing. But the exhibition also allows us to explore more deeply the traditions of body ornamentation in other cultures and our connections to them.
The exhibit is curated by renowned anthropologist Dr. Lars Krutak. Krutak is a Research Associate at the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has authored four books on the subject of indigenous body modification and produced and hosted the Discovery Channel series Tattoo Hunter. In this exhibition, Krutak shares his ongoing journey to understand how ancient and more contemporary tattoos “make” the people who wear them.
This traveling exhibit is organized by Vesterheim, the National Norwegian-American Museum and Folk-Art School and made possible by the generous support of Jon and Mary Hart.
Parking:
we encourage guests to use public transportation or ride-sharing services. Our 50-space parking lot is open on a first come, first-served, basis and limited street parking is available on SW 89th & 90th Avenues.
Accessibility:
Nordia House has two accessible parking spots in our main lot facing SW Oleson Rd. Both the main entrance facing SW Oleson Rd. and our side entrance facing SW Taylors Ferry Rd. are wheelchair accessible. All restrooms have accessible stalls but no power doors. We will do our best to accommodate your needs upon arrival. Please call 503-977-0275 or email info@nordicnorthwest.org to arrange further assistance.