Rosemale Riots
(War of the Roses)

I remember being fascinated by the sea of Norwegian flags and national costumes on the 17th May, Norway's Constitution Day. Friends pointed out the differences in "bunads", Norway's national "folk" costume, the various colours, patterns, shapes and cuts belonging to distinct regions. I felt a little sceptical having grown up in a time when the Union Jack was associated with the National Front and the difference in regional dress codes for "football casuals" could get you physically attacked. At the very least the inherent nationalism of dressing for May 17th implied a cultural conservatism that was diametrically opposed to everything I was working with. Then May 18th rolled around and everyone and everything reverted back to a quiet low-key progressive Liberalism. Digging a little deeper I learned that the costumes were a relatively contemporary invention and only loosely based on earlier vernacular rural clothing. Due to their inordinate cost, they were now regarded as something of a status symbol, which made sense in Stavanger. One of the wealthiest cities in the country.

Some years later I was researching a project to produce a large scale "rosemaling" mural as a contemporary form of graffiti with reference to the past. Rosemaling is a Scandinavian decorative folk painting that flourished from the 1700s to the mid-19th century, particularly in Norway. The term derives from ros, applied decoration or embellishment, decorative, decorated
[rosut, rosute, rosete, rosa] and å male, to paint. The first element can also be interpreted as a reference to the rose flower, but the floral elements are often so stylised that no specific flower is identifiable, and are absent in some designs. Artists who specialized in rosemaling often came from poorer classes in the countryside. They would travel from county to county painting churches, homes and furnishings for a commission of either money or merely room and board. Thus rosemaling was carried over the mountains and toward Norway's western coast. Once farther away from the influence of the painters' guild, these artists tried new ideas and motifs. Rosemaling became widespread as amateur artists in rural areas often imitated this folk art. Soon strong regional styles developed and today the three main styles are Telemark, Hallingdal and Rogaland, named after the regions in which each originated.

Being a committed anti-authoritarian Yorkshireman whose county had waged a 30 year war with Lancashire in the 15th Century commonly called the War of the Roses, which still resonates to this day, it struck me that I was on fertile ground to unite these seemingly disparate interests in one piece.

I secured a pair of surplus Police Helmets and Riot Shields from the UK, rumoured to have been used at the anti Thatcher Poll Tax riots in 1990 where I'd been "kettled" for the best part of a day. I then tracked down Unni Marie Lien an award winning "rosemaling" artist hidden deep in the Norwegian countryside and after convincing her I wasn't intending to start a war,
commissioned her to paint the helmet’s and shields you see here with two, often competitive regional styles. A rare but equally lazy attempt at studio based work.

*(of the police) confine (a group of demonstrators or protesters) to a small
area, as a method of crowd control during a demonstration.