SLIDESHOW: Nordic artists participating in the NFB at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard. Here, a still from the fashion-influenced film Magma by Marianna Mørkøre and Rannvá Káradóttir.

Looks from Hildur Yeoman, an Icelandic designer and fashion illustrator. Her work is featured in the NFB’s main exhibit, "Looking Back to Find Our Future."

Cult designer Henrik Vibskov is one of the region’s most well-known contemporary designer. He’ll be speaking during the symposium on September 30 and October 1.

Danish designer Barbara i Gongini has been heavily involved in the sustainability movement, and, despite the ultra dark, ultra goth aesthetic, collaborated in 2009’s Bright Green Fashion collection.

A look from Icelandic designer Eyglo.

Gudrun & Gudrun is a knitwear line made by two natives of the remote Faroe Islands, which sit between Norway and Iceland.

Greenland’s Julie Edel Hardenberg will also speak at the 9/30 and 10/1 symposium. Much of her work seems to riff on a key piece called ‘Rigsfælleskabspause’ ("the break of the Danish Commonwealth"), in which she used flags from Greenland and Danish to construct a kind of straight jacket.

"Recycle or die;" Aftur’s brand slogan is pretty direct about the repurposed materials used in their Iceland-based line.

The inspiration for Jóhanna Methúsalemsdóttir’s jewelry line, Kria, is said to come from a black lava Icelandic beach on which she found a bird skeleton. That’s the kind of romantic darkness that typifies at least our expectation of Nordic artists, if not always their actual work.