The art exhibition was inaugurated at the beginning of March. Arctic Highways at House of Sweden and which showcases twelve indigenous artists from Sápmi, Canada and Alaska. Many of the artworks relate to the history of indigenous peoples, but also address the challenges faced by indigenous peoples today.
The exhibition is curated by four Sámi artists – Tomas Colbengtson, Britta Marakatt-Labba, Gunvor Guttorm, and Dan Jåma. The exhibition's name was inspired by the Finnish-Sámi author Nils-Aslak Valkeapää (1943-2001), who described the Arctic as a highway that not only physically connected people across national borders but also mythologically. Across the arctic landscape, culture and art have travelled effortlessly with the wind, sun, and reindeer herds, creating a network of arctic ”highways.”.
As early as 2018, Tomas Colbengtsson initiated the international residency programme ”sapmi salasta” (sapmi encompasses) for indigenous artists. Together with Jan Wejdmark, initiator of ”the Meeting Place Granö”... was held a year later, the first residency”Indigenous tracks”at Sjungaregården culture and theatre association in Granö with support from IASPIS/The Swedish Arts Grants Committee, among others. It was during the residency that ideas for a touring exhibition took shape. Three of the artists who participated in the 2019 residency are now also involved in Arctic Highways.
During the inauguration at House of Sweden, we organised a conversation between two of the exhibition's artists – Tomas Colbengtson from Björkvattnet in Västerbotten and Sonya Kelliher-Combs from Anchorage in Alaska – which was moderated by Manuela Well-of-Man, Chief Curator at IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts I'm in Santa Fe.
During the conversation, it became clear that Indigenous peoples in Sápmi and the USA have similar historical experiences of colonisation and forced displacement, as well as lost languages. At the same time, both cultures are witnessing strong developments in their own storytelling and traditional crafts.
The conversation gathered a large, interested audience with several officials from Congress and the city of Washington present. Many agree that we need to address historical injustices, something that also Kamala Harris made in his speech on Columbus Day last October; ”Since 1934, every October, the United States has recognised the European explorers who first landed on American shores. But that is not the whole story. It has never been the whole story. These explorers began a wave of devastation for Indigenous peoples, waged violence, stole land and spread disease. We must not shy away from this shameful past.”
Following its world premiere in Washington, the exhibition, organised by Mötesplats Granö and TYP Kulturkapital, will tour to Canada and five American institutions. Next after Washington is Yukon Arts Centre the Whitehouse in Canada under the umbrella of the Great Nordic Cultural Initiative Nordic Bridges. The tour concludes at Saemien Sijte, Snåsa, Norway, before being permanently placed in Granö.
During the exhibition period, the embassy in Washington continues to highlight Sámi culture. We will be showing Amanda Kernell's film *Sameblod* (Sámi Blood) and hosting a concert with Sara Ajnnak. We are supporting a trip to Sweden for Rhiana Yazzie, a playwright, director, and artistic director of New Native Theatre, who is visiting BIBU and Young Swedstage Rhiana's theatre is one of several players in the USA who today want to create new ways of seeing, producing, and staging the stories of indigenous peoples. We also support Lisa Schwartz, director at Folk Alliance International, to visit the folk and roots music festival and sister organisation Nordic Folk Alliance in Gothenburg in April, where she will participate in the panel discussion “Focus on the Indigenous”, among other things.
We are very proud to be the first viewing location for Arctic Highways. With our work, we also want to try and support contact between the indigenous peoples of our countries. We are also looking forward to following Arctic Highways' tour in North America over the next few years.
Arctic Highways is being shown at House of Sweden until July 17th.
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