Art and activism are often entwined in the practice of Jenni Laiti (b. 1981), a Sámi artist, environmental and Indigenous rights activist and duojár (Sámi artisan).
Laiti voices a cry for justice for nature and Indigenous communities through her art, which defies Western tradition in being rooted in Sámi duodji collective culture and its multi-generational continuum.
The meaning of ‘duodji’ embraces not only art and handicrafts, but a holistic life philosophy that views art not as an isolated phenomenon but as integral to every aspect of existence – art is the way one chooses to live one’s life.
Carl-Johan Utsi (b. 1978) is a self-taught Sámi photographer and reindeer herder from Jåhkåmåhkke, Sápmi.
His camera always comes along while herding, allowing him to capture the daily life of reindeer and the ever-changing landscapes of Sápmi. His goal is to create images that capture the vibrant natural colours and light of the sub-arctic, as well as the beauty and essence of the land and its people.
Photos: Carl-Johan Utsi
Teardrops of Our Grandmother, 2023
Artwork location: HAM Helsinki Art Museum
Laiti’s and Carl-Johan Utsi’s single-channel video Teardrops of Our Grandmother in HAM’s south gallery is a poetic meditation on the precarity of survival in an endangered world. The Sámi way of life is intimately linked to the winter and cold. Frost and the eight seasons of the Arctic region are critically intertwined with the traditional Sámi way of life. Global warming is disrupting the seasons and threatening the survival of Indigenous communities and the other-than-human species that have adapted to cold Arctic conditions.
The video in underpinned by an awareness of the unbreakable land-body bond: Whatever harm is done to nature hurts human beings as well. Environmental trauma is also human trauma, because we are connected to the land through webs of interdependency. The video urges humans to slow down and give nature time to heal.
Supported by The Swedish-Finnish Cultural Foundation, Embassy of Sweden