The story of the Norwegian bunad

have you

ever been arrested by the brunette

police

this is the first question i asked the

guest in my podcast

and the answers i get are always

interesting

i’m wearing a boo nut today and when i

do

i always got reactions most ask me

where my brunod is from where i

am from i feel festive in my view nod

but i’m also slightly concerned about

the self-proclaimed

punad police this might be

for example a person with strong

opinions on how abundant should be worn

and who may wear one given that

the bruno police doesn’t really exist as

such

the reactions to bunad open for the big

question

what is abu nad

it is easy to think of bunad as

something old

something that our ancestors wore in

pre-industrial time

but bunad as such is a modern

phenomenon in reality the brunad

was developed in the 20th century

as a way to show a national mindset

today we have approximately 450

unique variations of norwich and bunauds

each representing national regional

and local identity but the

misunderstandings

surrounding the bunad and the brunette

history

lay the battleground open for the

so-called

punad police

norwegians are not known to be overly

warm or outgoing

but on may 17th our national day

we are a joyful bunch dressed up in our

brunettes

it could be the melting snow or the nice

spring weather

the birds sprouting but in my opinion it

is

the blue nub that makes this day so

magical

when i dress up in my boon adid it is

like magic i

i feel like a superhero

i’m powerful on a quest

well-dressed all at the same time

in other countries the fall garments the

full

costumes are mostly used for folk dance

and in norway we also use the bunner for

four dance

but the brunard evolved and became

a common way of dressing for the big and

festive

occasions in life are you going to a

christening

wear brunard are you going to a wedding

where brunod are you going to graduate

wear a bunnad the bunnad

is for the grand occasions in life

where emotions run high

and maybe that’s the reason why the busy

bodies think they can comment

on the way you dress

in norway today you will find abundant

in almost every closet wardrobe or attic

norwegians wear blue nuts with huge

pride

and use large samsung money on it

more than 2.5 million bundles are found

in norwegian homes

to an astonishing estimated value of 30

billion norwegian growners

for a population of 5.4 million people

that number speaks for itself

but the value is not about the money

brunod is bigger than the cost nine out

of ten girls

are given abu nad for life when they go

through

christian confirmation or a similar

coming of age ceremony

at the age of fifteen some

might wear their mothers or their

grandmother’s brunettes

this way the bunad becomes a symbol of

family roots

and usually the boys are not given a

buna at this age

as most of the 15 year olds have not yet

developed an adult physique

and this makes the social pressure

easier

on them

the idea is that brunei should last a

lifetime

and be passed on for several generations

my bu nod my bundad is from a small

village

called rindal 110 kilometers south

west of trondheim with the

2039 current inhabitants

this spun out was constructed in 1985

using historical textiles and silver

from around the eighteen thirties

like mibunad bunnuts used to be

geographically bound at first

it was national this became clear

during a difficult time

in the 1890s norway struggled to become

an independent nation we had been under

rule

by first denmark and then sweden

our now good neighbors

during this peaceful transition time

towards

independence in 1905 the hardangerbunad

became a way to show a national state of

mind

the hardangebund was called the national

as it spread wide from the hardonga

region

to all over the country

the herdongibuna became immensely

popular

so much that the future queen mod

dressed up in one for

fun in a photo studio in bergen

while visiting the norwegian fjord in

1893

at that time she was princess model

wales

and the part of the british royal family

but she later on married her danish

cousin prince carl he became the future

norwegian king hawk on the seventh

after a referendum in 1905.

the two of them became the foundation of

the norwegian

royal house and this became the

beginning

of the modern norwegian nation

what a strike of luck it was to have

those photos

of a young princess dressed in the

hadangibunad

when nowhere became independent in 1905.

bhunad continued to develop

many wanted to loosen the cultural ties

from our former rulers

after the independence one particular

question started to rise

why should everyone wear the hardange

bunnad

to show their patriotism when they had

no

connection to our dangit

this started a new trend and one

particular woman became central

her name was hula gardberg and she

had her own agenda make norway

norwegian again

but what did that imply

for hilda it was all about the

independence

and the language and the folk dance

and the boonard

she used punad as a search for national

identity

she was a journalist and a writer and

she founded a theater group

where the actors spoke a new kind of

norwegian on stage

instead of danish she imported the no

old norse word bunad from

iceland and like many other nations at

that time

norway developed a written language

based on the different dialects

she also imported the folk dance

from the pharaoh islands and she started

a mass movement the norwegians started

to dance

wearing blue knots of course

she and her theater troupe traveled all

around the country

and the movement spread

suddenly the hardangevu not got

competition

as everyone now wanted the hula bunnet

had she started a fashion trend

hulldespunad was from hollingdale she

was a modern and practical woman so she

changed it and the first brunettes were

not

so concerned about traditions they were

randomly put together

the basic idea was that the bunad had to

be norwegian

whatever that meant it had to be

national

whatever they found that to be and it

had to be pretty

what abunad was was open for

interpretation

she changed the traditional fork garment

into something else something more

practical for dancing something more

suitable

for her agenda she got rid of the big

and impractical headdress

and she changed the waistline so it got

more comfortable to wear

she modernized tradition and the

huldaboo nod

was born or should i say developed

in the 1920s everyone wanted to make

their own

local bunnots to show off local skills

and traditions many follow the rules

given by hilda garboyk the rule

had to be norwegian the dress should

have embroidery

and lots of it and the embroidery should

be in colored wool

the regional boundary was born

from then on it has been the common rule

that the boundary you wear should be

from the place where you’re from

it’s all about identity

the regional bunas from the 1920s were

typical of the time

hurler guidebook was a grand designer

giving thumbs up

or down on the development

on new local donuts

as hilda grew older she trusted her

prodigy

clara sembe to continue her life’s work

but then the war came

punad development became impossible

because the nazis saw an opportunity

in the bunad they saw how the brunard

created

a national identity and hijacked the

bunad

to be used in nasi propaganda

this meant that the bunad could not be

used by the norwegians

opposing the nazis

and bhunad development was put on hold

when clara restarted the blue network

after the war

she had new ideas the brunard was

already established

as a modern phenomenon but now

clara wanted the boundaries to be

historically correct

she had an idea that the textiles and

the silver should be gathered from the

same time period

and the same location

the blue nut should be true to history

and this represented a different take on

bunad

bhunad evolved further

in the 1960s and the 70s ogudnos

became a real brunette pioneer when

collecting

documenting and photographing old

traditional fall comments

she cycled around asking about the

historical use

and the traditions today we have a large

archive with historical textiles thanks

to her work

this is available for us to explore

in the museum collections

and this is the base for reconstructing

and re-inventing burnouts today

many believe that bunad is exactly the

same

as our ancestor were but but that’s not

true

or at least it’s true and untrue at the

same time zombie units are actually true

to the

traditions of pre-industrial norway

others

are developed following hula guardberg

then again some are created following

clara samba

and thanks to augotnos we have a

historical knowledge pool

but for most brunettes owners the

authenticity is not about

whose ideas their burnouts is based on

on our national day may 17th

the joy and togetherness feels like

magic

this day is a very inclusive one and i

now see a trend

where the brunette has become a sign of

integration

bearing abunad gives for example

immigrants

an opportunity to be included

some find it hard to always get the

question

where are you from it can feel offensive

and be difficult to explain

norway is today a multicultural society

but wearing a boo nut could make

you feel included

when it’s not easy to explain where

you’re from

wearing a beaut shows where your heart

is

today everyone and no one is abundant

police

if your nosy neighbor comments on the

way you have your hair or makeup while

dressed in bunnad

well she’s acting like the bunnad police

if someone tells you you’re not

norwegian enough to wear a bunnad

well that person is prejudiced

and simply wrong the bruno police

is strong in norwegian mindsets but

remember

it doesn’t really exist brunard has

always served a higher purpose

it used to be an activist way to dress

also today activist movements use puna

to get attentions

the activist movements work for

different political issues

like nature climate and local health

care

but you cannot argue angrily with a

person dressed in blue nut

i would say they are inspired by hula

garbodkin

time will show exactly how brunod

will continue to evolve

but evolve it will

thank you

[Applause]