In 2014, I was invited to Tingvoll by the designer Helle Bergan to investigate the conditions at the mill before its closure. The process of closing was in the final phase and I was given the opportunity to observe how the remaining staff were treated and how the buildings and the objects left in the factory were managed.
Production equipment, archival materials and other items had an undefined status after what was of obvious value already had been shipped to Innvik. In this situation, I became an emotionally engaged witness to the situation, in conversation with the last employees. I was not involved in textile production - it was about being present, and collecting and documenting objects through text and photography.
I did not know how this experience could be introduced and conveyed as part of the work in the programme, but I knew it represented something important and different to the experiences I had at Sjølingstad and Gudbrandsdalens Woollen Mill. I became part of discussions about how the story of Sellgren in Tingvoll could be told, both with the staff at the local museum and with politicians who were interested in exploring the history of the textile industry in Tingvoll as a basis for new business development. The conversation with the museum about the collection, management and dissemination of objects and history continues.
