"A Piece Of Home"
Madelen Berntzen
Friday 16th March 2012
Madelen Berntzen's performance combined a cultural and personal response to costume.
As a Norwegian student, studying at Swansea Metropolitan University, her work allowed us to celebrate the differences in our cultures.
The sewing element of her performance was a comment on her Norwegian National Costume, the Bunad. Berntzen invited the viewers to participate in the performance by sewing personal things on to pieces of fabric and attaching them to her as if she were a Rag Tree. The reference to the Rag Tree bridges the gap between Norwegian and British traditional culture; a Rag Tree is an old British custom still practised in Ireland.
As a Norwegian student, studying at Swansea Metropolitan University, her work allowed us to celebrate the differences in our cultures.
The sewing element of her performance was a comment on her Norwegian National Costume, the Bunad. Berntzen invited the viewers to participate in the performance by sewing personal things on to pieces of fabric and attaching them to her as if she were a Rag Tree. The reference to the Rag Tree bridges the gap between Norwegian and British traditional culture; a Rag Tree is an old British custom still practised in Ireland.