The Time Between Us - Sitting Mats are available for locals and tourist at Visit Suðuroy's tourist center in Vágur.
Read below about the project, the wool, ‘the making of the sitting mats’ and how you can freely borrow them.
The Time Between Us - Project
The Time Between Us was a 3 month community art project that took place in 2023, where a great variety of people connected to Vágur have been participating in. The project was initiated by Floortje Zonneveld, Martijn Bastiaans and Eva Bullens together with Vágs Kommuna. The sitting mats are one of the outcomes of the multidisciplinary project and co-created by many different people from the community at the FabLab Vágur.
Wool is the Faroese Gold
This saying has held true for many years in the Faroe Islands. As the hearty sheep have provided vital protection from the harsh elements at the sea in the form of fishermens' sweaters, hats, gloves and socks.
Today, their sustainable wool transcends into cozy sweaters to rugged outwear. Thus, connecting the land and the ocean in many ways, as it also connects generations and traditions.
For this project, the local wool connects old techniques and skills with new digital technology. But most of all, it connects by the unique opportunity of many hands from in and around Vágur to meet during creative workshops. Working with the Faroese wool allowed us to share our: stories, knowledge and skills.
A Collective Process
Throughout autumn 2023, all the necessary steps for making the sitting mats have been performed. We started at the sheep farms, then into the schools, elderly homes, FabLab and private homes.
From the sheep growing the wool to: shearing, washing, selecting, carding, felting, lasercutting, folding the sitting mat together.
Many hands from all over southern Suðuroy collected the wool for this project. The 4th grade pupils from Vágs skúli learned washing and carding the wool. Students from Ítróttaháskúlin and visitors of FabLab Vágur learned felting, lasercutting and folding the sitting mats during educational workshops.
The pattern was developed by the Icelandic designer, Margrét Katrín Guttormsdóttir, in the Iceland Textile Lab, and tweaked a little bit for the handmade Faroese felt. With the lasercutter in the FabLab, a 19 piece modular sitting mat was created. All the pieces, each from different sheep with their own unique color, are folded into each other and form a strong but soft sitting mat.
Just as the sitting mat is connected by the different pieces, it represents the connections between the many people and sheep, who have been working on creating this sitting mat while sharing an experience or story together.
How to Use the Sitting Mats
The sitting mats are part of the library in Vágur. When you go for a walk in the mountains, you can come and pick one (or many) up. When you bring them back, they can dry in the cabinet.
By using them, the wool is brought back to the mountains where it came from. There you meet the sheep that will provide for next year's wool supply. This way, we will continue to share stories and time together.
Whe you return from your walk, a booklet is provided for you to tell your own story of using the sitting mat in the Faroese landscapes.
Related
The Time Between Us Audiowalks
The Time Between Us Audiowalks are available to listen in Vágur. Read below about the audiowalks and where you can listen to them. Read more here.