The Arctic Highways art exhibition, currently on a four-year tour of the Northern Hemisphere, has been shown in Washington, Yukon, and Chicago during its first year. It is now opening on Park Avenue in New York.
Twelve Indigenous artists from Sápmi, Canada and Alaska are exhibiting contemporary art with widely differing expressions. The artists share the experience of belonging to an Indigenous people, and the exhibition's entirety allows the visitor to gain an insight into what it means to be boundless, both spiritually and geographically.
The artists from Sápmi are Matti Aikio, Tomas Colbengtson, Gunvor Guttorm, Marja Helander, Dan Jåma, Laila Susanna Kuhmunen, Britta Marakatt-Labba, Olof Marsja and Máret Ánne Sara. From Alaska, the artist Sonya Kelliher-Combs. From Canada, the artists Meryl McMaster and Maureen Gruben.
On April 15th, the exhibition opens at Scandinavia House in New York City with an exciting event. Stage performances, film screening and panel discussion.
First on stage is the Greenlandic dancer Elisabeth Heilmann Blind with ”UaaJeerneq - the Greenlandic mask dance,” the oldest dramatic expression among the Inuit in Greenland with a history stretching back 3000-4000 years. The dancer changes and deforms their body and face to abolish the self and blur the boundaries between human and animal, male and female.
The documentary ”Historjá – Stitches for Sápmi”, which has received significant attention domestically and won this year's Guldbagge award, is then shown. It's about the artist Britta Marakatt-Labba, who is also one of the artists in the exhibition. Directed by Thomas Jackson.
After the film, the audience will get to listen to joik as Lars-Henrik Blind performs. A distinguished and well-known cultural worker in Sápmi for more than 40 years.
The programme concludes with a panel discussion. On stage are Britta Marakatt-Labba, Thomas Jackson and Elisabeth Heilmann Blind. The moderator is Tomas Colbengston.
The programme runs between 13:00 and 15:30.
The gallery is open for viewing from 12pm to 6pm.
The exhibition is on display until 22 July 2023
58 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016
The curators for Arctic Highways are four of the artists: Britta Marakatt-Labba, Gunvor Guttorm, Tomas Colbengtson, Dan Jåma
The initiator and financier of Arctic Highways is Jan Wejdmark, Mötesplats Granö.
Arctic Highways will become a permanent exhibition in Granö in 2025.
The Mötesplats Granö website presents artists and all works in text and downloadable high-resolution images.
CONTACT:
If you would like to know more or have any questions, please contact Yvonne Rock:
Email: yvonnerock.stockholm@gmail.com Telephone: +46(0)709587125
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