After several years on tour, Arctic Highways having found their ‘home’ in Granö, Västerbotten, where the exhibition will remain permanently.
The exhibition was inaugurated at House of Sweden in Washington DC in March 2022, after which it began an extensive international tour with stops in Whitehorse (Canada), Chicago, New York, Seattle, Minneapolis and Santa Fe (USA). The journey then continued through Norway and Sweden before finally reaching Granö. Along the way, the exhibition has created meeting places for dialogue, knowledge exchange and new relationships – both within the Arctic and far beyond the region.
Well, after this outstanding journey, Arctic Highways comes to a place where it belongs. Here, in an Arctic landscape shaped by the stories, cultures, and ways of life reflected in the exhibition, it finds its natural home. Granö, situated along the 470-kilometre-long Ume River, has for centuries been a meeting place – a natural connection between coast and mountains, where Sami culture and the traditions of the Swedish countryside have met through migration, trade, and the wanderings of the seasons.
Featuring works by Indigenous artists from Sápmi, Alaska and Canada – including Britta Marakatt-Labba, Tomas Colbengtson, Sonya Kelliher-Combs and Gunvor Guttorm – the exhibition brings together powerful artistic voices working with textiles, sculpture, photography and other forms of expression.
In the Arctic landscape, culture and art have always been in motion. They have followed the direction of the winds, the path of the sun, and the migrations of reindeer herds, creating invisible but deeply rooted “pathways” that connect people, knowledge, and identity across borders drawn by others. Arctic Highways These connections take shape. Through their own experiences and artistic expressions, the artists invite us to reflect on what it means to live without limiting boundaries – and to consider not only the reality of boundaries, but also their limitations, for all of us.
With Granö as their permanent home, Arctic Highways More than an exhibition. It will be a long-term international meeting place for Indigenous art, Indigenous perspectives and continued cultural exchange.
Photo: Knut Åserud
Swedish 
English