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Contemporary Sami Art

The Nordic Embassies offer Berliners a Closer look at Sami’s Culture

June 22nd, 2015
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For the first time in Berlin, visitors will have the opportunity to have an in-depth look at Sami art and culture. The Nordic Embassies are hosting the “Contemporary Sami Art” exhibition between July 9th and September 27th at the Felleshus.

23 artists from Finland, Norway and Sweden will showcase their work from the past 15 years, aiming to challenge the clichés associated with their people and encourage a new, different perspective on Sami culture. There will be a wide array of works, since the different artists are renowned for their work in a numerous fields of art, including video installations, paintings, sculptures, embroidery, puppet animations and performance art.

The opening of the event will begin at 6pm with a discussion in English between Markku Laakso and Annika Dahlsten, who are visual artists, Marita Isobel Solberg, an artist and musician, Anders Sunna, a painter, and the curator Jan-Erik Lundstöm. Following the discussion, the Finnish ambassador Päivi Luostarinen will officially open the exhibition.

The exhibition will take a closer look at the Sami people, a group of people who remain somewhat unknown in Berlin. The Sami people are the indigenous inhabitants of Scandinavia, who live in the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Usually thought of only for their reindeer herding, there are numerous other aspects of the Sami culture yet to be discovered by the outside world. This exhibition will shed light on these lesser known sides of their culture. This event is of particular importance as it promotes the Sami culture across the world, and raises awareness of the Sami people. The “Contemporary Sami Art” exhibition runs parallel to the effort of the Northern states to promote the Sami traditions, which they once discriminated against, and it was previously displayed in Finland and Sweden.

The Felleshus is open every day and the entrance to the exhibit is free.

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News from Berlin
Chloé Francisco, Berlin Global