Feast your eyes on Nordic dresses like Folkdräkt, Bunad, and Gákti at the Museum of International Folk Art's exhibition "Dressing with Purpose: Belonging and Resistance in Scandinavia". For over two centuries, traditional Nordic folk dresses were a special symbol of respective defiance in the face of social and political change—from Norway's fight for independence to the Indigenous Sámi community's protest for political recognition, the Nordic dress became more than just a garment. We’re proud to see the Museum's own Norwegian American Emigrant Bunad (1989) on loan and displayed in the exhibition (2nd image, right). The garment bears Norwegian and American flags of a Viking ship, recalling the voyage of Norse explorers to North America. Referencing the longstanding bond between the continents, Kathe Nilsen of Olso designed and sewed the bunad. Upon a visit to the Pacific Northwest, she presented it to Ballard's Leif Erikson Lodge No.1. In 2004, the lodge gifted the bunad to the Nation...