Odda, Tyssedal | The Women’s Front in Norway celebrates 50 years with a banner from Odda
In the Human Rights House (MELAhuset) in Oslo, the day will be packed with lectures, debates, concerts, exhibitions and celebratory dinners. The group creating the historical exhibition would very much like to include flags and on Digital museum they found the characteristic flag of the Kvinnefronten in Odda and Tyssedal. This came into the Kraftmuseet in 1995 when we had the exhibition “Faner from the industrial city”. On a daily basis, we store the fan in a climate-controlled warehouse at the Conservation Services in Salhus, and as a general rule, valuable museum objects are kept in warehouses or within the museum walls. But since the fan is in good condition and was strongly wanted for the exhibition, we have made an exception.
Helle Borgen i The women’s front si exhibition group, fully praises the fan from Odda, which is typical of the period and heavy on symbols. Here we see togetherness and solidarity, women in a united herd before industry, local communities and nature, and in the sky Kvinnefronten’s logo; the biological sign of gender and the fist that expresses the will to fight.
The flag was made in 1978 or -79. She is made by local members, drawn by Jorunn Birkeland, machinist at Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk and student at Odda Vocational School. She was an engineer at Statoil and a trustee at NITO. The banner was sewn by Berit Løyning, then owner of Berit’s sewing workshop in Nyland. The Women’s Front in Odda and Tyssedal was founded in the late autumn of the UN’s International Women’s Year 1975. At the start there was a group in Odda and a group in Tyssedal. At most there were between 40 and 50 members. The local team was active until 1984.
There are many different types of flags in museums, but at the Digital Museum we only find three Women’s front flags. The other two are from Mo i Rana (Helgeland Museum) and Kvinnefronten St.Hanshaugen (Oslo Museum). They are also colorful and expressive and can be seen at the anniversary exhibition in Oslo.
We wish the Women’s Front the best of luck with the anniversary.