Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik

Gudbrandsdalens Woollen Mill History

In 1887 Bernt Otto Johnsen established the Gudbrandsdalens Uldspinneri, a spinning mill by the Mesna river in Lillehammer, Oppland ¹. After eight years of operation, in 1895 the production expanded to include weaving, dyeing and finishing. The company was from then on a complete woollen mill ². In 1898, the factory changed its name to Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik (GU) - Gudbrandsdalens Woollen Mill - and employed 25 people by the turn of the century, 15 of them women ³. In 1912, Andreas R. Svarstad bought the mill, paying 150,000 kroner. Before settling in Lillehammer, Svarstad had been involved in establishing Innvik Uldvarefabrik ⁴.

The combination of Svarstad's knowledge of textile production and business management provided a good basis for expansion and growth. Through technological development and a strong focus on producing fabrics of high quality, the business grew steadily through the following decades. Even during the 1920s and 1930s, a difficult period for most manufacturing companies, GU showed continuous growth and development of a wide range of products. The company invested surpluses in upgrading technical equipment and factory buildings during the recession, so that it could take a larger market share during better times ⁵. Production was mainly fabrics for clothing, as well as for interiors.

One of the main reasons why GU succeeded when the Norwegian textile industry was in decline in the 1960s and '70s was that the management was able to respond quickly to changes in the market. An example is that when garment manufacturers started to close, GU shifted from producing fabrics for clothing to fabrics for interiors in a short period of time.

Today, after 126 years, GU is the largest remaining mill in Norway, and one of the leading manufacturers of upholstery fabrics in Europe. The factory is still owned by the Svarstad family, and is an important carrier of tradition and knowledge in the Norwegian textile industry. The mill competes on quality and sustainability, not on price. GU educates its own technicians, either on the premises or by financing education at relevant schools abroad. The company still maintains all the manufacturing processes in house, and technically its production is one of the most modern in the world. The mill now employs around 70 people, while at its peak there were around 350 employees. Even so, the volume in production has never been larger than today. Seventy per cent of the fabrics are exported. Upholstery fabrics from GU are used on the seats of Norwegian trains, on cruise ships and in cinemas, hotels, offices and institutions around the world ⁶.

GU at Lillehammer represents a continuation of traditions through development and growth, and has become a model for environmentally friendly and quality local production. The centralised operation ensures the shortest possible distance between labour, design, production and consumer. This is a transparent setup that makes all parts of the chain responsible. Management, capital, the entire production line and all necessary knowledge exist in one place, in one city. This has become the most important competitive advantage for GU, and an asset in marketing. Production at the factory was, for a long time, out of step with industrial development in Norway, an anachronism. Today it is an example, for this type of production, of the most modern and future-oriented operation it is possible to imagine.

Til Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik

From autumn 2012 onwards, I explored the history of GU and its production, preparing to take part in the group exhibition A Thousand Threads - A Story Told in Textiles at Lillehammer Art Museum. The exhibition was shown from November 2013 to May 2014.

To Gudbrandsdalens Woollen Mill was a company portrait presenting the history of the mill as part of the cultural history of Lillehammer, as well as its role in keeping production such as this running and developing in Norway today. The work described my experiences at the mill, and the process of manufacturing textiles that I carried out during the period of a year.

The management at GU went out of their way for me to get to know the factory. Frode Svarstad, one of the owners, put together a programme that lasted a week, during which I spent one day in each department. After this I had open access to the archive, and was given my own office space. I discovered that GU is defined by the high production volume at the mill, and that there are few openings for experimentation beyond what must be done to deliver orders. I found myself in continuous negotiation with requirements for efficiency, with respect for the tasks and working hours of the staff.

I spent a lot of time in the archives and workshops and became familiar with many of the employees. I observed the structures and processes of production. During the year I spent periodes at Lillehammer, I created a large number of photographs of production equipment and people at work, selected objects from the archive, interviewed one employee in each department, and created my own textiles woven in patterns sourced in the archive. I dyed yarn based on the interior of the factory, inspired by the machines and surfaces of the building. I used yarn from the company storage, but also my own cashmere and silk from the Cariaggi spinning mill in Italy. The textiles regularly produced at GU are relatively heavy, and I explored what results I could get by using lighter yarns in other fibres than wool.

The installation in the museum included a series of photos developed in collaboration with the photographer Fin Serck-Hanssen, as well as textiles based on weave patterns found in the archives, archive material, interviews with employees and documentation material.

Bjørn Mikael Johnsen Production worker, yarn manufacturing Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik September 2013

I've worked here since 1979. When it comes to making yarn, I have been through it all. At first I was operating on the spinning machine and doing the carding. Now I'm around in several locations, and I think it's more interesting than just operating the same machine all the time. I have several different tasks. Now I run the picking. I also do repairs of machinery, and that's interesting. If something breaks or stops, I help to get it started again. Then we have pressure on us because we cannot afford to have machinery standing still. We do smaller repairs ourselves in the departments. Bigger repairs are given to the two guys in the machine and tool workshop. If there is something seriously wrong, we must summon people from the factory supplying the machine.

In the picking we mix dyed wool and viscose fibres before it is spun into yarn. We also add oil to prepare for carding and spinning. When the yarn is finished it goes through cleansing and winding. With our part of the process, we don't see the finished result. It just becomes a yarn. But when we visit the weaving department and see the results there, we feel that we are contributing. We buy a lot of yarn too, from international spinning mills. What we produce here is just for ourselves, for our own production. We still produce many qualities, but we have reduced tremendously. How many qualities we have, I don't dare to say.

We are about fifteen to sixteen people working with yarn manufacturing. Now we produce on three shifts, at least in the carding and spinning. There are six people that share three shifts. It is a stable workforce here. Most of us have been here for many years: twenty, thirty and even forty. This creates a good working environment: we take our breaks together, but it is generally pretty hectic. I work from seven in the morning to three in the afternoon. The first of the three shifts starts at ten o'clock on Sunday evening and ends at six o'clock in the morning, then the new shift arrives at six and works till two in the afternoon, and then from two to ten till Friday evening. At night there are not more than two people working, and it is not very social. I think it's good for me to work only during the day.

I have no background in textiles, but I've been on a course at a woollen mill in Leeds, England. I went there with Frode Svarstad and a group of people, and there we learned some things. We brought some samples when we came back here, and it was very interesting. I have not taken a certificate and I regret that a little today. We were offered it not long after I started, and then it was all so new to me. So I said no. Now I've been here for a very long time. One learns from one's mistakes, naturally, and there is always something new. So I've learned quite a lot over time.

One of the carding machines was already here when I started. It is from 1970. We've replaced some ring spinners and the cleaning machines. It has become a little more modern. While there have been major changes in the other departments, in the weaving, dyeing and finishing the carding is probably more or less the same as it was when I started. In fact, I don't really know if it is possible to modernize the process of carding even more. But the picking has become better. Before we got the new equipment they had to use pitchforks. Now it automatic and piped in closed systems. But of course, there is still some heavy lifting. And dust. You see it clearly, all this dust when the sun shines through the windows.

We had over two hundred employees here when I started; now we are a lot fewer. We've been through some troubled times. The workload on each and every one of us gets bigger; it has to be like that to survive. But in some departments they have automated several of their operations. We are renowned for our quality. We can deliver small quantities. At least we did a lot of that before. Today we had to cut the smaller orders, because of costs. But it is a tough business; it's impressive that they manage. Production staff work hard and we try to do our best. And we try to get it right the first time. Making mistakes costs too much.

Vidar Lilleespe Head of dyeing and finishing department Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik September 2013

I've been at GU for twenty years, doing the dyeing, washing and finishing in all those years. I am presently head of the department, but I started as production worker. In 1993, the adventure of the Lillehammer Winter Olympics had ended. We who worked to build the Olympics went through hard times, and there were no available jobs within my field. I got a tip that they were looking for people here at the mill, so I just showed up at the office one day asking. They told me I could meet the following morning. It was completely new to me; I didn't know a thing about textiles. I'm from up the valley, from Gausdal. I had perhaps heard about something called a woollen mill, and noticed that they were hiring. But the mention of textiles made me go, no. And if you are from a farming village, and have been driving tractors, milking cows and stuff like that, you don't associate textiles with what you are wearing, because that you call clothes. Textiles are kind of like something different altogether.

When I started I soon became interested and I realized I wanted to work within this field. I am a person who needs challenges. I get so bored doing the same thing every day, and I have to have something to aim at. This is the reason I took a certificate in 1995, in dyeing, finishing and printing. After two years, I was offered more textile education. Then I chose to study at Teko Centre Denmark in Herning. It was fifty per cent dyeing techniques and fifty per cent business management. For two years I was down there with full wages paid by GU.

We use three dyeing methods. We dye pieces of finished fabrics, we dye yarn and we dye fleece, both wool and viscose. Through wet finishing we do fulling, washing, fixation and carbonization. When the fabric is dry we can treat it with shearing and decaticing. So, there are many processes a textile goes through to be the same every time. It is crucial to follow the list of operations and recipes. To get a high quality finishing right you must possess dexterity and experience. You have to adjust every quality to get the touch you want it to have. So, we are talking about experience, you must have it in your hands. That's it.

I think that we who work with textile manufacturing in Norway are a dying breed. It is not possible to get a specialist education in textile production in this country. You have designers and product developers, but when you get down to do the production, to do what they ask for, there is no education. Then we must retrieve experience from older people who have worked in the industry for a long time and who bring their knowledge onwards. Meanwhile we must acquire new knowledge abroad. When we are hiring we never get anyone with textile experience in Norway.

The fact that we have the whole production line under one roof is the biggest advantage we have. Without this, it is not certain that we would still be in business. If we get a rush order or make mistakes, we can reprioritise and move fast. That is impossible if you rely on a subcontractor abroad. We can say yes, then we dye today, weave tomorrow and do the finishing the next day. Done! Ready for the customer. Had GU chosen to outsource dyeing or the finishing, we who work in this department would have had to look for other jobs. And if they suddenly wished to onshore the production, well, they would find both equipment and workers, but they would not find the knowledge to continue a high quality production just like that. It would take many years.

I am proud of my skills. If I were not proud, I would have found something else to do. You are supposed to do a good job and also feel good about it. And you should really feel that your job is important, not only for yourself but for the other seventy people in the house. We are all depending on each other. If one person is doing a poor job on the line then the next will have much more work correcting the errors. So you need to focus on delivering the goods from your hand with the right quality, at the right time and in the right amount. It is important in a manufacturing company that everything runs smoothly.

Bjørn Lundgård Production worker, warp making Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik September 2013

I started here on June 7, 1977, so I'm vintage, you might say. Before that I worked as a chef. But I got tired of kitchen work. It was hard and poorly paid, and it was not any fun any more. I looked for something else. And it was here I got a job. That was just the way it was. At the time I applied it was easy, you just travelled around and asked for work, and most often you could start the next day, or even the same day if you wanted to. It is very different now. I worked night shifts for more than seventeen years in the spinning department until I got daytime work. Then I started making sample books and leaflets to present the products we make to our customers. I had several different tasks before I was transferred to the warp making, where I am today.

Knowledge comes with experience. There are not many I know of who started here with experience in textile production from before. But there have been competent people here over the years, willing to share their knowledge. This is the way it has been passed down to us, you might say. This is how we have learned what we know.

The first thing you do when you are creating a warp is to enter all necessary data into the computer to find the yarn we need. Then you have to fetch the yarn, place it in the beaming frame, tie it in, pull it through, thread the reed, do the calculation and set the machine for the quality you are running. Then you have to run as many sections as you need to get the correct width, transfer the yarn to the warp beam and place the beam in the beam elevator. When finished, you enter the data into the computer and then the weavers can collect the beam in the elevator down in the weaving department. There the warp is tied into the looms, and then, in the end, it becomes a woven finished fabric.

The lengths of warp vary a lot. The shortest we make are about 57 metres, which is one piece, or maybe even a little shorter, if that's what the customer wants. The longest are 1840 metres. We don't produce for stock any more, because it does not pay. There are taxes on stored goods, so it costs extra to have a lot lying around not being sold. Preferably we produce to order. So the short warps we make are for qualities that don't sell much. For our bestselling products we make many long warps.

The quality of what we produce in the mill has been high all the time. This is probably the reason why we are still in business. Not everyone buys low quality just to buy low quality, so to speak. It doesn't always pay in the long run. And then the mill has always been managed well. It is important that a family runs it, and that it is a question of heritage. It is their livelihood, and this is an important factor, I think. Without their deep interest I don't think that the factory would be here today, actually. All businesses have their ups and downs, naturally. Sometimes it is hard and other times it's easy. It is important to constantly keep up with development, because it is important that you are up to date at all times. The factory has a professional sales department who promotes what we make. That is also important. And a staff that knows what they are doing.

This will soon be the only manufacturing company left at Lillehammer. No, there are not many others still operating. Everyone in the district knows where GU is and what it stands for. I have never experienced anything negative when telling people that this is where I work. Everyone needs a job. This has been quite a safe place to work through the years, some ups and downs, yes, but all in all a secure income. And you depend on that.

Ann Britt Kolloen Head of the weaving department Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik September 2013

I have been here since 1995, when I began working part time as a weaver. To get a full time position I applied for a job in the inspection and repair department as well. In 2000 I started as the supervisor, or working foreman, as it was called then. After four or five years I became head of the weaving department, which includes both inspection and repair department and the warp making. I already had responsibility in inspection and repair department and then I threw myself into the rest as well. There was an upheaval in my daily routines, so to speak. I like to be active. It is great when things move fast and it is a little hectic. I am very fond of the people here, the mill and my work. For good and bad. It is not only fun, but that is the case anywhere. Now I have become so old that I guess I'll stay here until I retire. Bet on it.

It was quite by chance that I started here. An acquaintance of mine told me that it was a position advertised, and it made me want to apply. With a little luck I got the job. I have no education that has anything to do with textiles. The first week was tough; I thought I was never going to learn anything at all. But that was just nonsense, of course. If you are you interested you build knowledge along the way. If you are interested and curious, you look around at all places ... what is that? What is there?

I am responsible for making schedules for what we produce at all times, and I am responsible for staff and meetings. I have three meetings before nine o'clock every morning, with the operators in the departments, the heads of the other departments and the management. I really appreciate these meetings. Because of them I don't have to run around all day telling everybody what to do. I gather everyone and go through how the day went yesterday, and what should be done that specific day. Department head meetings are important because they clarify if there is something that does not work in how the departments function together.

I talk a lot with the staff members, and I try to spend the breaks with my colleagues. I think the bonds are pretty solid, yes. I would almost call it friendship among us all. But sometimes we have challenges that it takes some time to solve. But most things we manage to handle. I always try to see the signals, if something is wrong among the staff. Then it is very important to sit down and talk, and really listen. Or perhaps I just ask if everything is okay today. There is often not so much you need to be assured that you are seen and heard.

We have a lot of heavy lifting, naturally. And a lot of dust, and the humming and shaking. The looms just stand there beating and shaking. The air is slightly moist and warm; it must be because of the yarn. We try to find new ways to improve; it has to do with health and well-being. But of course it is a challenge, and it will never be perfect in this regard; if we want to continue weaving we will never get rid of the dust. And the noise, it will never go away.

When I started they said that you're not a qualified weaver until you've been here for two years, and I think that it is true because there are things that are new to you constantly. Although it has become easier with new machines, I think it is right that you need two years to get a certain experience with all of the elements in the production. When a new person with no experience starts to weave, they work with a senior staff member for as long as it takes for the new person to master the craft. It takes quite a long time to learn the operations in a weaving mill. You must learn to use proper yarn, tie properly and finish the pieces properly.

I feel proud of being a weaver. This is probably just the thing for me. To experience that the quality you have made is perfect, right? Good job, we can be proud of this! This is an important part of enjoying your work. But I'm probably a bit special, I guess? Maybe I should have started working here when I was even younger, and built an even stronger position on my interests and knowledge.

Anne Matte Strandløkken Shift leader, weaving department Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik September 2013

I've been fully employed here since 1996. Before that I was working part time for one year in different departments in the factory. But ever since I got a full time job I have worked in the weaving department. It was quite by chance that I started at the mill. My brother worked here at the time and he fixed a job for me. He does not work here any more. My sister actually worked here for a few years too, and my mother was in inspection and repair department sixty years ago, before she got married. I quite soon became interested after I started. All I know about textiles I have learned here. I've had other jobs too, but it has not been the same. There are many qualities, patterns and colours that I like to work with. I can only answer for myself, but I would think that you get an interest in what you are doing, if you are doing it every day.

In the weaving department we get the yarn from the yarn storage, but it comes from the spinning and the winding department. The winding is the department before the weaving on the production line. Or perhaps the dyeing department, if the yarn is purchased and dyed on cones. Warps we get from the warp makers, which is part of our department. We have a production plan that we are all supposed to follow, so most of the time the yarn we use comes down from storage when we need it. It happens by itself if they follow their schedule. But if not, then I run upstairs to get it, if that is needed. It's not more complicated than that. I go straight on.

When I started here we used old projectile looms. Not digital or anything, nothing other than the mechanical ones. There were punch cards on jacquards. They were gone pretty quickly after I started. Then we used diskettes with the patterns stored on them. And now that is gone too. The new machines are much faster. But it does not mean that it is necessarily less work with them. However, they are more efficient, and now there are almost infinite possibilities with the jacquard. It was more limited before.

We work two shifts every other week, early and late, so I'm used to that. I've done it all these years except for a period I worked only night shifts. When we had three shifts, another colleague and I worked only at night. First shift begins at five forty-five in the morning, but I'm here at half past five because I am the shift leader. That's fine except I never get used to getting up at four in the morning. It's torture. When I arrive in the morning I open the doors, I turn on all the equipment and I get everything ready. I am responsible for ensuring that the right things are being done during the shift. I must have control and know at all times what we are weaving in all the looms. I run looms too, so I have shift responsibility on the side.

Sometimes I think about my own knowledge. I feel that I do a good job and that I really know what I'm doing. I'm proud in a way and I feel like I accomplish something. I get good feedback, and it's good to hear it said out loud. Everyone needs that. And I'm interested in that things go well. Now I've been here so long that I know where everything is supposed to be, to put it that way.

What I have noticed through the years, with people who start working here, is that they either quit after a few weeks or so, or they stay for years. We notice this with everyone who begins. Either they find out pretty soon that this is not something for them, or they kind of just know that this is the place they should be. It is very much either or. You notice pretty quickly if you fit in or not. Maybe we are a bit quirky, and a very special group of people, and perhaps not everyone is happy having us as colleagues. It is perhaps a little either or too. But I think it is nice down here in the weaving department. For me it is a very important reason for working here so long, that I am very fond of my colleagues. Those who have worked with me for years, I see almost more of them than anyone else. It's almost like a family.

Ivar Magne Johannesen Production worker, weaving department Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik September 2013

I started working here twenty-five years ago as a technician in the weaving department. I was educated as a car mechanic, so I had the mechanical background. Although I am from Lillehammer I knew nothing about the mill, only that it was a factory below the railway line along the Mesna River. The funny thing is that I was fed up already after the first day here. I was pretty sure I wasn't going to show up for yet another day of work. But now I've been here for twenty-five years.

When I started in the mill I worked with service and maintenance. I tied new warps and got the new fabrics started, both shaft looms and jacquards. At that time we had specialists taking care of the different tasks, so we did not do the whole process ourselves. Today I am a weaver, and now we actually do everything ourselves. We remove the finished fabric, clean the loom, enter a new warp and tie it, getting a new piece going. Yes, the whole process from A to Z. It is interesting to work with weaving, because we see results. We see the patterns, we see it becoming a fabric.

I thought at the time I started that working with textiles must be very boring stuff. But then I realized that it is a very interesting field. I took a certificate of completed apprenticeship maybe ten or twelve years after I started. Often you learn only what you need to be able to do the job, but with the certificate I could both widen and deepen my knowledge. Then it became even more interesting. I learned about finishing, dyeing, spinning, winding. Worsted and woollens. We used the teaching program Frode Svarstad created, and the teacher was a master weaver from Landheim Weaving Mill: Abrahamsen, a textile engineer educated in Germany. He was very skilful - really of the old school.

The modern technology means that we produce more today than we did before. Once there were over 300 employees here, and the schedule had three shifts. When I started in 1988 there were around 190 employees. Now we are 70, but we produce more and better quality today, with modern machines that take care of themselves. Before we produced for stock. Today we deliver directly to the customer by order.

The most interesting thing with this mill is that we do the whole process here at this location. The fleece enters at one end and a finished fabric leaves the mill at the other. It is not like that in other mills any more, where they perhaps buy finished yarn or just make yarn. We control the entire production, and with that in mind one understands why the products we make cost as much as they do, when you see all the work in all the departments.

We had an open day here last year. We celebrated an anniversary, and then a lot of people came to see what we are doing. There were neighbours who had only seen the factory from the outside, and when they saw from the inside what we make, they were very surprised. We got a lot of feedback that people thought it was interesting to see that we make upholstery. They perhaps began to think about what furniture they had at home. This was on a Saturday morning with terrific weather and we were surprised at how many people came. We thought that it might be about thirty to fifty people; there were a lot more.

I am a little proud that I work in this mill, yes. I am. We see fabrics we have produced all over the place. On the railways, on boats. Watching TV, you may suddenly see a presenter sitting on a chair ... Wow, it was Rypdal, it was Rypdal [one of fabrics that GU produces]. Then you can just imagine, that, yes, maybe I have created that fabric. We are proud of what we make. Thinking about all the cruise boats we have delivered to, and all the cinemas. A friend of mine was on a ferry not long ago, and he said that it was a nice boat, beautiful fabrics and, yes, nice. And then he wondered if I had been on that ferry. No, I said, I have not, but I've been making the fabrics. So I know how it looks. Wow, he said.

Lisbeth Jacobsen Production worker, inspection and repair Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik September 2013

I work in the inspection and repair department, where we go through all the fabrics that are woven in the mill. We receive the fabrics when they are finished in the weaving department. Many fabrics we control only on the right side, but some we control first on the wrong side and then on the right side afterwards. This is a job for you if you love needlework and sewing. There is a lot of mending, so you must have good eyesight. I have been in this department since 2006, but I have worked for the company for thirty-four years. For twenty-six years I worked in the outlet up in the main street. Today the outlet is separate from GU. I like the working hours here better; you have Easter and Christmas off, and four weeks off during the summer. We don't have to work night shifts and we have Saturdays off too. Here we work only one shift, from seven in the morning to three in the afternoon.

I'm originally a hairdresser, but then I got married and had two girls. I chose to stay at home until they started school. Then I started working in the outlet. I like to work with fabrics, and I've always thought it was okay to sew I embroider and assemble national costumes too. I have made them for my daughters and my grandchildren.

Here in the department there is a lot of work with each fabric. We can repair a lot. But what we can't do anything about we mark as a mistake. On some colours it's easy to notice the knots and mistakes. Other colours are difficult. On greyscale you must use your hands as well as your eyes; you must work on the right side and feel the knots. The pieces are around fifty metres long. A Halling without many mistakes we finish in about three-quarters of an hour, when we do both sides. We manage more or less three to four hundred metres per person daily, depending on the quality of the fabric. It is an important job and everyone plays a part to keep the production running.

We receive feedback if we have done something wrong. It's the same in all departments. If we receive a piece with too many errors from the weaving department then we give notice. Then Ann Britt goes up and informs the weavers that they must check. It might be broken threads or wrinkles in the fabric, or it may be granny knots. We do not like them. It's also about how the yarn is produced. Granny knots are so hard that you don't even have to try to untie them. Then you have to pull out some thread and use a new thread to mend it. When the fabric gets washed you don't notice the mending, but it takes a long time to do.

We chatter and talk. When we are finished with a piece we help each other to fold the fabrics, then we talk a bit. It is quiet here. The other areas in the factory are very noisy, you have to shout and scream, and then you don't bother saying anything at all. But we take breaks together, everyone in the department. The staffs in all departments eat together at the same time all over the house.

It is quite hard on the neck and shoulders. The average age here in the department is about fifty. We used to stretch and bend every once in a while, but it never really became a routine. We're told now and then to stretch when we sit at the table. It is important because it gets pretty intense when you sit in the same position all the time. A person from occupational health came once to look at our working positions. She had some suggestions but after a while we went back to how we normally do it.

All other departments are constantly renewing their technology. That is important, I guess, in the weaving department, that they have the latest technology, but here there is not so much to be done. One cannot get it more modern than it already is. After the fabric is finished from our hands it is washed and maybe dyed, and then up to the dry finishing treatment department for a final control. There are two people that do the last control. And if something is wrong at that point, well, then Frode or Ragnvald is contacted. I guess they have the last word.

Ivar Furulund Product controller Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik September 2013

I have worked in the factory since 1962. When I was sixty-three I went into retirement and didn't work for a few years, but then I started again when I was sixty-seven and worked until I was sixty-eight. Then I ended up at Feiring and underwent cardiac surgery. I had to replace two veins. Just now after a sick-leave that lasted ten months, I started again. I turned sixty-nine the other day. I didn't like being retired. The camaraderie here in the mill is very good, I was very happy with my job. You might tell since I have worked here for almost fifty years.

I'm from Lillehammer, from Saksumdal just over the hill there, and when I started in the mill I was seventeen or eighteen years old. I came straight from secondary school. It was like that when I grew up, it was about getting out there and finding a job. Today I would probably have taken more school. I started here in the weaving mill and worked for two years before I was in the military for a year. When I came back to the mill I did different tasks. I did shearing for a year before I started as a product controller. I perform the last check before the fabrics leave the factory. I've been doing this for about forty years, and I have done it well, I guess, since I have had the job for so long.

When I started there were 325 people who worked in the mill, and then it was really fun to get down here because there were people everywhere. It was often both a wife and a husband who worked here; that was very common. Today there are maybe seventy employees and yet we produce so much! I think almost more than ever. When I started there were sixty-five old looms beating and slamming. Today there are a lot fewer, but each loom produces, isn't it, eight hundred metres a day? You can see the fabric growing on the cloth beam. There has been rapid development. I still think it is an all right place to be. You have to work really hard. But that is what you are supposed to do when you are at work.

Besides my job at the factory I have been a musician for fifty years. I've had my own dance band. It's called Furulunds, and we were touring all over Norway. It was hard to make it happen. When I finished the job here Friday night, I had to run home to get changed and then be on the road to play somewhere. I came home early in the morning, and then off again at night. There were no quiet weekends, but it was really fun. I stopped after fifty years, when it was enough.

In the final control you pass all the fabrics through a machine to look for errors. I notice the mistakes that are possible to notice. My job is demanding. It is tough both on the head and the vision. You stand in one position the whole time and leave only when you eat. I check up to three thousand metres a day. If you add the numbers for the daily production during a year, it becomes a lot. You must have a keen eye, and you kind of see not only where you focus but also much wider. The fabrics are often 140 centimetres wide, and I don't look to both sides. I look mostly straight forward, and then I see the whole width. I guess it is a question of practice. I wear glasses, but actually I think that I still have pretty good vision.

I work full time now. Unless you are ill I think it is much better to work. Of course, there are many who cannot handle working any longer; the body says stop. I am the only one my age in the factory, but I know people at other places who are still working in their seventies. And now they would like people to work until they turn seventy-five. Then you better have good health! There is no one who has been here as long as me. Think about it, when I started I was the youngest! You get a large amount of knowledge after so many years, of course you do. I feel a little pride in it; I know what I am capable of. But it's not something I brag about.

Åge Jenssveen Production manager Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik September 2013

I started in May 1976, almost forty years ago. I began with carding and spinning, and after that I have taken on more and more responsibility. When I was head of the spinning department Andreas Svarstad, who was manager at the time, wanted me to take more education. He suggested that I should study to become an engineer, so I did. I had leave for three years and I studied mechanical engineering, at first on production and then more specifically on textiles and clothing. Seventy per cent was covered by the mill and I had to contribute thirty per cent myself, to risk something. When I returned here I was head of a department for several years, and since 2007 I have been the production manager.

I am responsible for planning the structure for following up orders from customers, for staff in all departments and for all the machines, including the operation and maintenance of production equipment. In addition, I support the heads of the departments, helping them to find the best solutions for them to get the job done. And then I am responsible for ordering all the raw materials we use. That takes a lot of my time.

It's part of my job to be aware of development and to foresee the need for knowledge, to make sure we always have the skills we need. Many heads of departments have their experience from moving up in the system through time, after having started in production. But we also have some with key expertise. As an example, in the weaving department we have a trained weaving technician from Germany. He has built on his experience by working here and is today a textile mechanic. GU has to educate people. It is crucial.

It is a very vulnerable situation, because here in Norway there are no schools educating people for jobs in the textile industry. Then you have to look to Germany or England. This becomes obvious when we look for weaving technicians. It is impossible to find people, so we must take good care of those we have. Therefore it is important to transfer knowledge to the young people coming in. It is a continuous process, and new staff must learn from a master in the department. For this to happen you need to have a desire to learn. The people we train must really want it. Otherwise it won't work. We also set aside both time and funding to send candidates on courses and training, often organized by dye or machine suppliers. There is no one in Norway who takes an education in textile manufacturing without having something to come back to. The market in Norway is very small.

Today the machines we use are, to a large extent, automatic. Each machine is like a small computer, which makes troubleshooting difficult. But on the other hand we have a more efficient operation now. It is not so time consuming. Thirty years back we employed about two hundred people. Now we are down to seventy people, so the ability to keep up, technology-wise, allows us to survive. The owners of the factory have never taken out the profit gains. They have brought it back to the company as new investments. Imagine if we still used old looms or dyeing equipment, it would have been a heavy load to carry for the business to renew all this machinery at the same time. In this regard the management has been visionary, and has invested in new technology every year.

The uniqueness of GU is that we are what we call one hundred per cent vertically integrated, in that we have all the processes here on site. We're almost three factories in one. Many companies are specialized, but we do everything here and have complete control of the whole process. This creates flexibility. And it is certainly a strength, when designers are working with architects who want a special item, that we are able to make it here. Then we are not dependent on someone else. The management has become more and more aware of this situation in recent years. We see that it is a strength that we are soon to be the only mill in the world who has the whole production line in one building.

Ragnhild Nordhagen Product developer/Textile designer Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik September 2013

I work in the design department and I have been at GU since June of this year. I design upholstery fabrics and create weave patterns for new products, as well as assisting external designers with design, construction and sample weaving. I have a master's in textile design from the Swedish School of Textiles in Borås, and I started my textile education with a bachelor's in Art and Design, with two years specializing in design and weaving at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences.

It all began with a strong interest in historical costumes when I was a child, and a growing fascination for detail in textiles and fashion garments. I learned to weave at a folk high school in Sandefjord, and I quickly realized that this was a form of expression that suited me well. It has something to do with the fact that it is a medium suited for almost unlimited experimentation. By using your knowledge of weave patterns, and by combining different materials, you can create surprising textures, structures and motifs. Textiles are something we take for granted in many ways, as part of a garment or piece of furniture. But at the same time the qualities of a textile are immensely appreciated, such as through its tactility or shine, as an example. I am concerned about how to use textiles in new ways and how to create new functions. I explored this in my master's project where I developed a concept for space dividers for airports based on woven fabrics.

There is a lot of knowledge in the various departments at GU, and as a newcomer I've had the chance to learn a lot about all the processes in the house. The company has invested heavily in new and more efficient production machinery in several departments over the last few years. This enables the mill both to withstand the pressure the textile industry is facing today and to maintain and transfer its knowledge of textile production. There is something amazing about being able to look back on such a long textile history. I really feel that this is present here at the factory. When I stand in the weaving department surrounded by my colleagues and the looms, it is really nice to look around, knowing that we are part of an unbroken line of industrial history. There is no education exclusively on textile production in Norway today, and therefore it feels particularly important that this knowledge is maintained at GU.

I believe that tradition and innovation often go hand in hand. One is probably never completely detached from history and tradition; you have references and experience as a base for innovation. Modern design often refers consciously to historic forms of expression and colour palettes. But innovation could also be motivated by a desire to break with the past, with what you see as traditional or established, thus creating a more radical design. Anyway, I don't think it's possible to ignore the influence of or the relationship between history, tradition and innovation. I believe that in order to be innovative in textile design one has to look towards what is happening within other disciplines, such as architecture, product design, fashion and art. Understanding the mechanisms of innovation in related fields can give valuable input to your own area. It is also important to keep up with the development of new materials, which can influence the design process of innovative textiles. To maintain the knowledge of all aspects of textile production is equally important. There is a growing interest in handcrafted and unique expressions. In this regard, knowledge of the craft of weaving and pattern construction still influences exciting and modern design expression, perhaps in a different way than what is possible through the use of design software.

The textile industry in Norway is small, and textile design is a rather narrow field. Nevertheless, I think that the opportunities are good for me to work in the textile industry in this country for a long time. I believe that this part of the Norwegian industry has great potential through focusing on innovative and distinctive designs, as well as exciting collaborations.

Franz Schmidt Til Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik (2013)

Utgangspunktet for Franz Petter Schmidts (f. 1969) prosjekt er norsk tekstilindustri og industrihistorie, og han bygger verket Til Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik (2013) på sin egen arbeidserfaring fra tekstilproduksjon. Verket danner et sammensatt portrett av Norges største gjenværende veveri, som ligger på Lillehammer. Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik (GU) er en vesentlig tradisjonsbærer og innovatør i norsk tekstilindustri. Schmidt har tilnærmet seg dette veveriet med et nærmest antropologisk blikk, som deltagende observatør og med respekt for den kunnskaps- og tradisjonsbærer bedriften er.

Mye tid er tilbrakt i alle bedriftens verksteder og i dialog med de ansatte, for å samle inn et grunnlagsmateriale for installasjonen. Den inneholder intervjuer og fotografier av et representativt utvalg ansatte fra hele produksjonslinjen, og kunstnerens egne bearbeidelser i form av tekstiler produsert ved veveriet. I tekstilene tar Schmidt blant annet utgangspunkt i bindinger funnet i gamle prøvebøker, og kobler dette med stedsspesifikke elementer, som for eksempel en fargeskala hentet fra fabrikkarkitekturen. På denne måten integrerer han både sosiale og fysiske strukturer i verket. I montere befinner det seg både arkivmateriale og prøvemateriale utlånt fra GU. Ved å la gamle og nye gjenstander, arkivstudier og et innsamlet, dokumentarisk materiale utgjøre grunnlaget for installasjonen innlemmer Schmidt hele tilvirkningsprosessen og dens historie i verket. Hans forkjærlighet for arkivmateriale skaper kontakt med den historiske arven og tradisjonene, med menneskene som produserte stoffene og hvordan spesifikk kunnskap om industriell tekstilproduksjon utvikles, overføres og ivaretas.

Når Schmidt undersøker et bestemt sted og tar utgangpunkt i den faktiske historie, utfordrer han den for å skape et kritisk fortolkningsrom. Han integrerer den industrielle tilvirkning, og henter inn strategier og metoder fra design, kunsthåndverk og billedkunstfeltet, noe som resulterer i en kompleks presentasjon. Installasjonen ligner en iscenesettelse fra et kulturhistorisk museum, den er verken ensidig dokumentarisk eller utelukkende poetisk fortolkende, men befinner seg som et "museum i museet" i en kritisk kommenterende posisjon som gir rom for refleksjoner rundt historieforståelse, endringsprosesser, tradisjon og forvaltning av kulturminner. Ved å forbinde fortid og nåtid, og ved å gjøre arkivet til en ressurs for refleksjon, gjenoppvekker og vedlikeholder han historien.

Til Gudbrandsdalens Uldvarefabrik er et ledd i Schmidts stipendiatprosjekt ved KHiO, hvor han benytter arkiver og samlinger som utgangspunkt for en undersøkelse av bedriftshistorie og produktutvikling, og hvor han blant annet ser på hvilken relevans et historisk materiale har for designpraksis og produksjon i dag. Schmidt har et historisk forankret blikk som understreker betydningen av fagkompetanse, og som berører spørsmål som har å gjøre med håndverkets verdi, kvalitet, videreføring av kunnskap og om betydningen av lokal industriproduksjon. Flere av de tekstilene Schmidt har vevd basert på arkivmaterialet, vil GU nå benytte som utgangspunkt for et møbelstoff tilpasset dagens marked, med egne farger og materialvalg.