Muittut, muitalusat, First workshop

28.4.2020 Muittut, muitalusat, First workshop, Day I:

Tradition and modernity in a living culture. Gákti, Gapta, Gábdde. 

Place: Adobe Connect Classroom https://sogsakk.adobeconnect.com/muittut/

 

The University of Lapland and the Luleå University of Technology LTU presented the planning process and introduced some possibilities of immersive technology. There were two Sámi guest lecturers, duodji researcher Sigga-Marja Magga and visual artist Outi Pieski, who both gave a speech on gákti. Sigga-Marja focused on describing the gákti, its many meanings and practises, while Outi described the gákti using her personal experiences and feelings and reflecting on their impact on her art.

Present: Eeva-Kristiina Harlin, Darja Heikkilä, Sari Valkonen, Anni Guttorm from Siida, Anna Liisa Jåma, Birgitta Fossum from Saemien Sijte, Sunna Kuoljok from Ájtte, Ashley Colley, Maija Mäkikalli, Matilda Kalving, Satu Pesola, Lauri Hakala from University of Lapland, Henrique Rossi, Joo Chan Kim and Teemu Laine from Luleå University of Technology, Sigga-Marja Magga from Giellagas Institute, artist Outi Pieski.

12.5.2020 Muittut, muitalusat, First workshop, Day II: Repatriation and re-remembrance; the drum 

Place: Adobe Connect Classroom https://sogsakk.adobeconnect.com/muittut/  

 

Eeva-Kristiina told about the history of collecting artefacts in Sápmi. There are 76 drums – entire or fragments of drums – in museums, but also archaeological remnants. A majority of the drums are in Sweden with the largest collections in SHM (though deposited in the Nordiska Museet). Many drums are on loan in other museums but owned by the Nordiska Museet. 23 are in other European museums. There are many regional variations in drums. This history of collecting and the current locations of the drums affect the way different Sámi museums view the drum and how we wish to present it. 

Birgitta Fossum talked about Saemien Sijte as a museum but also about the process of repatriation and the meaning of the drum in the South Sámi area. 

Anna Westman Kuhmunen, Ájtte, University of Stockholm / Department of Religion: Practical experience on making an exhibition on Sámi religion: Drum Time 2001 

Anna Westman Kuhmunen told about her personal views on this exhibition process. The exhibition Drum Time displays eights drums and also deals with other aspects of Sámi spirituality such as the bear ceremony, bear graves and sacrificial finds. In 1998, Ájtte presented the exhibition Gáriid áigi (Drum Time) with drums from the collection of the Nordiska Museet. It was the first time the drums were in Sápmi since their confiscation. The Drum Time aims to provide information on religion, also today’s religion, its meaning to identity, the need for the repatriation of ancestors’ and tangible heritage, but also on how the drum is made. 

 

Fredrik Prost, Sámi Duojár, Govadas, Goabdes, Gåbbdá. Gievrie 

Fredrik Prost has been making drums since 2001. He began the same year the Ájtte exhibition opened. He does not make replicas of lost objects: the objective is to make utility objects. The drums are not dead, they are just a result of a development that has been and still is going on. His drum is a living object. The drums that we make today are more important than the old ones. Still, it is important to repatriate the old drums, as they should exist close by and be owned by Sámi museums and institutions. It is also important to take the language back and use original words like ballin/hammer and vuorbi/arpa. Newer words have a negative undertone. Fredrik told about the experience of making drums of different language areas: a frame drum, gåbbdá, from the Ume Sámi area, a southern type frame drum, gievrie, a North Sámi type govadas and a Lule Sámi goabdes. It is important to be aware of the fact that the drum is very much alive in Sámi art and the Sámi world. Our focus should be on deconstructing our colonial past and reconstructing our indigenous identity = háddjet – cegget. This is done to some extent in Sápmi but not collectively. We must put everything into a context; we must resurrect the drum. 

 

Present: Darja Heikkilä, Eeva-Kristiina Harlin, Anni Guttorm, Sari Valkonen, Outi Pieski from Siida, Birgitta Fossum, Anna Liisa Jåma, Elen Kristina Utsi, Lisa Dunfjeld Aagard from Saemien Sijte, Henrique Rossi, Joo Chan Kim, Teemu Laine from Luleå University of Technology, Jonna Häkkilä, Matilda Kalving from University of Lapland, Sunna Kuoljok, Anna Westman-Kuhmunen from Ájtte and Fredrik Prost (duojár/craftmaker). 

9.6.2020 Muittut, muitalusat, First workshop, Day IIIHealing of wounds – Loss of language 

Place: Adobe Connect Classroom https://sogsakk.adobeconnect.com/muittut/  

 

Guest lecturer Annika Pasanen (University of Helsinki) gave a presentation on the language revitalisation of anarâškielâ/Inari Sámi. Afterwards, there was a discussion about the use of Inari Sámi in practise and how the museum can contribute to revitalisation and how to take this into consideration in making a new exhibition. 

Guest lecturer Lea Simma (Tjállegoahte, Author Center Sápmi) gave a presentation on how the Author Center has promoted the Sámi languages. Tjállegoahte uses all the five languages spoken in Swedish Sápmi. There is no need to use all the languages in the same way. We must be surrounded by the language and its use, and be aware of all the Sámi languages. It is important to write original information in Sámi, since a great deal is lost in translation. The Sámi museum is a cultural house, a living room, a public space where you can use Sámi languages. 

 

Present: Eeva-Kristiina Harlin, Darja Heikkilä, Anni Guttorm, Outi Pieski, Sari Valkonen from Siida, Birgitta Fossum, Elen Kristina Utsi, Kai-Rune Hetta from Saemien Sijte, Maria Nordvall, Sunna Kuoljok from Ájtte, Teemu Laine, Kim Joo Chan, Henrique Rossi from Luleå University of Technology, Mari Suoheimo, Matilda Kalving from University of Lapland, and guests lecturers Annika Pasanen, University of Helsinki, and Lea Simma, Tjállegoahte.