Through still and moving images, A Restored Connection explores how we define ourselves and the environment around us. Although it features Norwegian Americans, visitors of all backgrounds will easily relate to the exhibition and its message of connection.

This exhibition started as a research project called “Hypernative” in 2011 by Regina Osbakk and Line Anda Dalmar. Through the project, they examined how national identity occurs and how it is inherited and transformed through generations. Their research translated into three artworks that show how attachment to a particular culture appears in a multicultural society.

The first piece is a video series featuring a Norwegian-American family living near Northfield, Minnesota. The second piece is a collection of snapshots taken in Iowa, Minnesota, and North Dakota, which capture expressions of Norwegian identity through clothing, festivals, and food. The third piece includes fifty portraits of Norwegian-American children and young adults with Norwegian first names.

The artworks have been exhibited in Berlin, Germany; Kristiansand, Norway; and Iowa City, Iowa.

Osbakk holds a BFA in Printmaking. Dalmar has a BFA in Photography and an MFA in Art. Their work has previously been exhibited in Berlin, Germany, Kristiansand, Norway, and Iowa City, Iowa.

The exhibition at Vesterheim is sponsored by an anonymous donor and Mary Mills Dunea of Osage, Iowa.