The artistic collaboration between Bit Vejle and Xiaoguang Qiao was born in fire. In 2010, Sino-Norwegian diplomatic relations were strained when the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the annual Peace Prize to Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobao. Although bilateral relations normalized six years later, it was under these strained conditions that Vejle and Qiao's cross-cultural conversation began, resulting in an exhibition that travels the world. Hosted by the ArtHouse Jersey in the Channel Islands in 2016, the exhibition Paper Dialogues expanded to include two new artists, Layla May Arthur and Emma Reid, inspired by the earlier works. It is this iteration of the exhibition that will travel to the National Nordic Museum in the fall 2021, encouraging American practitioners in the art of psaligraphy to join in the conversation.  

M(other) Tongues: Bodhild and Las Hermanas Iglesias features the work of Bodhild Brendryen Iglesias and her daughters Janelle and Lisa Iglesias. Born to Norwegian and Dominican immigrant parents, Janelle and Lisa create project-based work under the name “Las Hermanas Iglesias” (Spanish for “The Iglesias Sisters”). The artists grew up in Queens, NY, and now reside on opposite coasts, maintaining independent and collaborative art practices. In addition to working together, they extend their process to the communities they convene, including other members of their family, and in particular, their Norwegian-born mother, Bodhild, an avid knitter.