National Museum Viking Market 2013

In conjunction with the National Museum of Copenhagen's exhibition entitled "Viking", we were invited to attend a Viking Market held by the museum and organized by Gvido Libmanis, a fellow Viking craftsman. The market was set in the three main streets surrounding the museum which were blocked off for all but pedestrian traffic. There was only space for about 45 tents and due to the museums reputation they chose only the best and most authentic craftsmen to invite... which we were proud to be amongst.

 It is very difficult to pitch a tent on asphalt, however Tom Jersø devised a way to do it with 30kg weights. If Tom can do it anyone can :-) Or should I say, if Tom has done it I trust it to work. It was actually quicker and easier than sinking in plugs and could be fine tuned afterwards as well. I don't know how it would stand up in a wind, but it served our purposes very well. The other problem with asphalt is rain, which runs rather than seeping into the ground. After setting up our tent on Friday there was a down pour over the night which left a creek running through the center of our tent :-( Luckily we were able to solve this with some pallets under the skins and happily the rain subsided for the weekend :-) 

http://natmus.dk/nationalmuseet/udstillinger/saerudstillinger/viking-2013/vikingemarked/

Our home and studio

Loki having breakfast

Where the hell are all the trees???

Nanna shows her hand tattooed arms for the museum homepage

Lars tattoos Victoria the first day. To keep things as historical as possible we used linen cloths instead of paper towel... water and ink were set in small bowls instead of spray bottles and ink cups (all of which was disposed of afterwards). However we still had to use latex gloves and disposable needles for hygienic purposes.

Victoria's Dragon ankleband in progress

and another angle

While Lars tattooed, Victoria played music on her boneflute. Victoria is a priestess of the Asa faith and a prolific storyteller who kept us entertained all day :-)

While Lars tattooed Victoria I tattooed Birgitte Jersø in the other corner

Birgitte is a Viking Seamstress who was born in Greenland. She already has Nordic handpoked tattoos but we figured to show her Greenland roots and sewing trade we would use a more traditional Inuit design. The fact that the Vikings also settled in Greenland just adds to the charm :-)

This is an original design made by myself for Birgitte, based on the style and designs of various forearm tattoos of the Inuit women. These women were accomplished seemstresses and tattooists who combined their craft by actually sewing the tattoos into the skin. We will be doing some of this design with skin stitching as well as we progress.

A snowflake on her foot

First session... the design will continue around each side of the leg at a later point

Day 2 continued with a chest piece on fellow Viking tattooist Jesper Mann

Unfortunately the market only ran until 16:00 on Sunday so we still have a little bit to complete

Jesper designed a Viking Owl which we outlined this Spring and have been filling out at different markets this Summer as time provides. I'm very honoured to do this collaboration with him and looking forward to the end results

Jesper and Birgitte's view from the tent. A bit surrealistic after spending the Summer doing other Viking markets :-)

Our two flyswatters made by Lars out of leather. One is the Moesgaard's mask the other is the Trelleborg's mask... to commemorate our travels together and the end of another market season.

See you all next year :-)