MEET THE MASTERS OF NETTLEFIBER & TRADITIONAL CRAFT; CETRAT MUSEUM IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC (NORWAY JUNE 2025)
- Fride Kramer Riseng
- May 23
- 4 min read
Updated: May 27
The CETRAT Museum is home to some of Europe’s most passionate experts in fiber and traditional crafts. This summer, you have a rare chance to meet some of these skilled researchers and artisans in action. Through hands-on demonstrations and inspiring storytelling, they’ll share deep knowledge and a unique approach to forgotten techniques – and perhaps awaken your own creative spark.
But first, get to know them here.
A NETTLE AWAKENING
Back in 2018, I had what I call my “nettle awakening” – and I became completely fixated on everything related to nettle fiber. I think I memorized every single video by Allan Brown and Sally Pointer. I also found tons of fascinating material from around the world, linked to nettles and traditional craft techniques.
Then Covid hit – and suddenly I had all the time in the world to dive deep into the YouTube universe.
One day, a shining star appeared on my screen and completely hypnotized me: a museum in a small town in eastern Czech Republic was making the most stunning nettle fiber I’d ever seen. And not just that – they were making white lace! That video now has 2,200 views – and I’m pretty sure I’m responsible for 2,000 of them.
For some reason, I thought visiting this place would be an impossible dream. It felt like a Brothers Grimm fairytale – something that might vanish if I tried to reach out. But in August 2023, with Covid behind us, my husband Tormod and I made the journey to the town of Příbor, accompanied by fellow nettle enthusiasts Aud Harstad Bakken and Tim Parry-Williams.
CETRAT; CENTER FOR TRADITIONAL TECHNOLOGY IN PŘÍBOR
CETRAT is part of the Regional Museum of Nový Jičín and is housed in a former monastery with thick stone walls, deep cellars, and a beautiful garden. While the museum hosts a permanent exhibition, we were lucky enough to visit during a special exhibit on nettle fiber.
CETRAT researches forgotten crafts, especially from the Western Carpathians – a mountain range stretching in an arc through Central and Eastern Europe. Life in this rural area was harsh, and people survived by developing smart, simple technologies using natural materials. These old techniques reveal how resourceful people once were and offer valuable insight into folk culture and past crises.
The team at CETRAT studies a wide range of craft traditions based on materials like bast, bark, cotton grass, rushes, sedge, feathers, reeds, straw, human and horse hair, roots, fungi, intestines – and of course, fiber plants.
REDISCOVERING NETTLE
Since 2012, PhDr. Václav Michalička has been researching nettle. There’s no living tradition of processing nettle fiber in the Carpathians today, nor are there written records – making experimental verification extremely difficult.
Yet the work has borne fruit. Not only has Václav figured out how the fiber was produced, but also why it was used.
Surprisingly, microscopic analysis revealed that coarse textiles once thought to be made of nettle were actually poor-quality wool. On the other hand, nettle fiber showed up in very fine textiles – including lace.
FIBER, FABRIC & THREAD FROM NETTLES
Although nettle fabric can feel stiff at first, it softens beautifully with use – making it ideal for clothing worn close to the body. The fiber is strong, lightweight, insulating, and pleasant against the skin. It retains heat better than many other bast fibers and was used to make delicate spool ribbons in Bohemia (now the Czech Republic) from the 1600s to the mid-1800s.
During World War I, nettle made a comeback as a substitute for cotton and wool. The production was successful but was abandoned after the war for economic reasons.
The CETRAT team now produces a variety of textiles, threads, cords, and ropes from nettle. They experiment with different harvest times, retting and non-retting methods, drying techniques, and a wide range of tools. All research is done using authentic historical equipment.
When fiber and thread are combined with cultural context, something magical happens. Václav’s research has even turned up surprising revelations – who would have guessed that nettle was once a lace plant?
CETRAT WORKS THEIR MAGIC
What they create is truly astonishing. At a workshop the following year, held in Sylling, we worked side by side using fiber from my “Plant to Garment” project. It was both inspiring and, I admit, a little frustrating to see the kind of magic they conjured with the exact same material I had. Whether it was the processing or the spinning – the results were stunning.
In this video, Petra Vidomusová test-spins fiber from the project in Norway:
MEET CETRAT IN NORWAY – TALKS AND WORKSHOPS IN JUNE 2025!
This summer, you’ll have the opportunity to experience CETRAT in action – and be inspired by their deep knowledge, practical demonstrations, and unique take on ancient techniques.
Bygdøy Royal Farm – June 11, 17.30 – 20.00“Nettle Evening at the Greenhouse” Lecture and demos with CETRAT and Nesle
Information here
Maihaugen, Lillehammer – June 17, 13.00 – 15.45“From Fiber to Fertility”Lecture and demos with CETRAT and Nesle[Details and registration coming soon]
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