Textile Industry Museum

As a former knitting factory that operated between 1859 and 1989, the Textile Industry Museum holds over a century of industrial history. Situated north of Bergen directly on the waterfront, the factory was originally called Salhus Tricotagefabrik (Salhus Knitting Factory) and produced wool and cotton items for everyday use.

As part of across, with, nearby, the Textile Industry Museum hosts artist Jakkai Siributr’s ongoing textile project. Its elements of embroidery and displacement resonate with the site’s layered histories of labour, material, and care, also on a neighbourly level.

For over a century, the factory’s workers and their families lived in the surrounding area, shaping the lives of many generations of neighbours. Worker housing, a school, and community life were all connected to the region’s textile labour.

Today, the museum preserves historical machinery and workspaces to trace production processes from raw fibre to finished product, and also explores the legacy of local history through stories of an industrial past. With a concurrent programme of contemporary practices that connect craft, memory, and social engagement, new conversations about textiles as both material and social space are also established.