Sami art: A multi-perspective take on the urgency of communication

Marija Griniuk
Gunvor Guttorm
20 min Presentation + 20 min Discussion
Moderator:
Danny Butt
Dokkhuset
This presentation focuses on four perspectives concerning the need to develop and refine communication strategies aimed at different audiences for the projects of Sami artists. The first perspective is that of the curator-researcher Marija Griniuk, who is connected to the Sami Center for Contemporary Art (SDG) in Karasjok, Norway. The second, third, and fourth perspectives are those of the artist-researchers involved in the projects AIDA and AIDA II, linked to the Sami University of Applied Sciences in Kautokeino, Norway. These perspectives are presented by the principal investigator of the two projects, Gunvor Guttorm. The authors use artistic research to discover multiple perspectives on the communication strategies needed for indigenous Sami artists’ artworks. They thus recognize the urgency of developing explorative, coherent, accurate, and ethical forms of communication aimed at different audiences for the projects of Sami artists. Our research question is: How should indigenous Sami artworks be communicated to different audiences? Our objectives are: 1) to present the two cases (performance as a way of communicating an art project and various communication strategies applied in the AIDA and AIDA II projects) and conduct a reflexive analysis of them; and 2) to clarify four perspectives based on these two cases as well as the authors’ experiences. The authors’ reflexive analyses outline the key points concerning how the communication strategies for different audiences can be clear, accurate, and coherent, and how achieving this can enhance the dialogue between the artists and the audiences. These key points can be of benefit to the artist-researchers and curators involved in various institutional and non-institutional contexts where the works of Sami artists meet audiences.

Marija Griniuk

Marija Griniuk has a background in visual arts, performance art, performance pedagogy, and landscape management. Currently she is a PhD candidate at the University of Lapland in Finland and the director of Sami Center for Contemporary Art. She is a Lithuanian performance artist, during the last decade actively working as an artist-researcher in the Nordic and Baltic region.

Gunvor Guttorm

Gunvor Guttorm is Professor in duodji (Sámi arts and crafts, traditional art, applied art) at the Sámi University College in Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino in Norway. She has taught both undergraduate and graduate courses in duodji at Sámi University College level, both practically and theoretically. She has written several articles about how the traditional knowledge of sami art and craft is transformed to the modern lifestyle. She has written articles on contemporary Sami handicrafts. She has also participated in exhibitions in Sápmi and abroad.