How can Norwegian folk costume jewelry be redesigned to be more universal and inclusive?


Today søljer is looked at as pretty and expensive jewelry reserved for special occasions. Most Norwegians connect to these, however not many know the background, history, traditions, and meaning behind the different pieces. What once was general knowledge has become more and more lost with time resulting in the pieces being received and used historically wrong.

Søljers primary function was to hold clothes together. However, clothing styles have changed over the years, making them less of a necessity in everyday life and more into decorative pieces.

Through Practice-based research and qualitative methods, this thesis focuses on how Norwegian folk costume jewelry can be redesigned to be more universal and inclusive. Making the cultural heritage more usable in today's society.

It was decided quite early that the thesis was going to be practice-based. I wanted the result to be a physical product(s) that I can see, feel, and touch. The topic of the thesis was inspired by a combination of things. It started with an assignment in a course called Design and Culture where I decided to work with the Norwegian folk costume jewelry. The culture was chosen as I wanted to work with something I had prior knowledge about and a connection to. During the course I learned a lot about søljers history and found it fascinating. It was something I wanted to learn more about. I further explored the topic in the course Aesthetics of Materiality and now in this thesis.

The thesis explores both copper and silver. Copper was used for testing out and practice the different techniques while the finished products were made in silver. The research resulted in a collection of total 9 jewelry pieces that is made inclusive and universal in both function and symbolic use.

The best thing about the thesis was to learn and master different filigree techniques as well as seeing and creating a result that will last a lifetime. I also found it very satisfying to speak with experts in the field as it highlighted the information that could not be found in published work, like their own experience and workshop tips.