Welcome to Gallery Napa for the opening of the Young Arctic Artists 2021 exhibition “KAMPPAILU / FIGHT” on Saturday, 4th of September from 5 pm!
Opening program:
17 – 18.30
Opening of the exhibition at Gallery Napa and Studio Mustanapa (Kairatie 3)
19 – 21
Event at the Culture House Wiljami (Urheilukatu 1):- Artist Talk (30 min.)
– Video work by Olga Krüssenberg: “Slowly I Move in Your Direction” (23 min.)
– Performance by Alina Belyagina (choreography) and Amie Jammeh (dance): “Image we combat with” (40 min.)
The Young Arctic Artists 2021 exhibition with the theme “KAMPPAILU / FIGHT” will be exhibited in Rovaniemi from September 4 to 28, 2021 at Galleria Napa, Studio Mustanapa and the surrounding city space.
Young Arctic Artists exhibition series promotes young and emerging artists from the Arctic regions of Nordic countries and Russia. The aim of the exhibition series is to map the field of northern contemporary art and to promote its visibility and to create new networking possibilities in the area. The 2021 exhibition is the fourth edition of the Young Arctic Artists project. The series of exhibitions, which started in 2016, is produced by the Artists’ Association of Lapland.
The 2021 YAA exhibition “KAMPPAILU / FIGHT ” has been curated by a four-member team: Visual artists Panu Johansson and Savu E. Korteniemi are also members in the Artists’ Association of Lapland, Kven activist and filmmaker Katriina Pedersen and visual artist Åsne Kummeneje Mellem, who also belongs to the Kven community. Kummeneje Mellem will also take part in the exhibition as an artist.
The Open Call was accessible to all young Arctic artists, but the theme and implementation of the exhibition has been designed with the Kven perspective in mind. This Finnic linguistic and cultural minority was recognized as a national minority in Norway in 1999, and the Kven language became a national minority language in Norway in 2005. After a long and culturally destructive period of Norwegianization policy, identity reconstruction is underway, especially among young Kven people.
The theme of the exhibition “KAMPPAILU / FIGHT” reflects the experience typical for minorities: lliving in a constant conflict. The quest to preserve one’s own traditions, language, and culture often leads to a situation where struggle cannot be avoided; this can lead to a challenging spiral in which active individuals wear out of fighting, while the majority does not even acknowledge or recognize the conflict’s existence.
Or, as curator Katriina Pedersen states in the application notice for the exhibition:
“Fight-flight-freeze responses help us react to acute threats. These natural and good responses can become troublesome if the threat is prolonged or we can’t protect ourselves from it. I can fight for my language, I can flight from my language or I can freeze in my language. All are appropriate responses to the stress of language assimilation. How is it for Kven people? How is it for other minorities? Are they in a constant stress of assimilation ? I can often feel an internal conflict in teaching kven language/tradition. Would it not be easier to just leave it? It’s strange to experience how people truly start speaking and living Kven only when they stop fighting/fleeing/freezing. I guess it is a process of acceptance and healing.”
In addition to the gallery exhibition, a separate event will be held in Rovaniemi on Saturday, 4th of September 2021, at the Culture House Wiljami. The event will include a performance “Image we combat with” by choreographer Alina Belyagina and dancer Amie Jammeh and a video work ‘”Slowly I Move in Your Direction” by Olga Krüssenberg.
As a part of the exhibition project one of the artists, Maiya Syrstad Jerijervi, will carry out a public wall panel painting at the Korundi House of Culture. The painting will be strongly inspired by the cultural heritage of the Kvens and it will be published one week after the opening.
After Rovaniemi, the exhibition will move to Alattio in Norway in October 2021, where it will be on display at the local Alta Kunstforening gallery.
More info:
Savu E. Korteniemi 044 9299754
Panu Johansson 041 5012717
youngarcticartists@youngarctic
https://youngarcticartists.wordpress.com
Selected artists for Rovaniemi edition 4.– 28.9.2021
We are very proud to present the Young Arctic Artists 2021 for the Rovaniemi edition:
Alina Belyagina (RUS) & Amie Jammeh (SWE / GM)
Åsne Kummeneje Mellem ( NO / Kven)
Annika Sellik ( NO / Iisakumaa)
M. Seppola Simonsen (NO / Kven)
Maiya Syrstad Jerijervi ( NO / Kven)
Karin Keisu (SWE / Meänmaa) and Josse Thuresson ( SWE )
Ida Isak Westerberg ( SWE / Meänmaa)
Please note:
presentations of each artist / duo are coming soon.
Stay tuned!
OPEN CALL
For brief version in Kven language please scroll down
Young Arctic Artists 2021 exhibition promotes emerging contemporary art from northern areas (see detailed instructions from the PDF linked above). Exhibition will take place in Gallery Napa, Mustanapa and surrounding city space (Rovaniemi, Finland) 4.9.2021 – 28.9.2021. Additional second exhibition will be arranged in Tromsø, Norway, at late autumn 2021 (details confirmed later). Exhibitions are managed by Artists’ Association of Lapland and co-curated by the Finnish – Kven curatorial team: Panu Johansson (FI), Savu E. Korteniemi (FI), Katriina Pedersen (NO) and Åsne Kummeneje Mellem (NO).
Under thematic umbrella of FIGHT / KAMPPAILU, we now invite proposals for works and projects for the 4th edition of Young Arctic Artists.
Works or project proposals and CV should be sent AS A ONE PDF to email address youngarcticartists@gmail.com
Please read full details from the PDF document linked above.
We have extended the deadline!
The new deadline for applications is 31st of October 2020 (at 24.00 GMT+2).
THEMATIC CALL : FIGHT / KAMPPAILU
The curatorial theme of the YAA 2021 has been created from the Kven viewpoint and we would especially like to encourage young Kven people from all fields of art and creative expression to apply to the project. However, artists from all kinds of backgrounds and approaches are also welcome to submit under the theme “FIGHT / KAMPPAILU”.
Seeing the people of the Arctic and Northern Fennoscandia through dichotomy of indigenous peoples and national majorities doesn’t describe the whole situation aptly. There are groups of people who don’t belong to the national majorities but are not considered indigenous either. There is a clear need for a self generated Arctic culture and with the Young Arctic Artists 2021 we want to raise the diversity of Arctic voices.
From the perspective of a minority you are often pushed towards fighting if you want your tradition / language / culture to live and envolve. At the same time you are punished for fighting, directly by majorities not accepting conflict (conflict towards the majority or conflicts inside the minority itself). Or indirectly by it not being sustainable to stay in fight mode.
Kven activist and curator Katriina Pedersen:
“Fight-flight-freeze responses help us react to acute threats. These natural and good responses can become troublesome if the threat is prolonged or we can’t protect ourselves from it. I can fight for my language, I can flight from my language or I can freeze in my language. All are appropriate responses to the stress of language assimilation. How is it for Kven people? How is it for other minorities? Are they in a constant stress of assimilation ? I can often feel an internal conflict in teaching kven language/tradition. Would it not be easier to just leave it? It’s strange to experience how people truly start speaking and living Kven only when they stop fighting/fleeing/freezing. I guess it is a process of acceptance and healing.”
Questions related to the theme:
- For example, fight can be collective or individual, cultural or lingual, spiritual or visual. It can be tiny, ordinary and personal or big, political or environmental. Or it can be all of these. Which kind of fight are you involved in currently?
- Which kind of fight do you hope to have – or are afraid of having – in the future?
- Language as the field of fight. Language can be verbal, visual, bodily or aural, for example. What is language – what does it consist of for you?
- Healing as a form of fight. What kind of thoughts does this provoke?
- Fight is not (only) against something, it’s mostly pro something. What does reconciliation and revitalisation mean for you?
- If oppression is a process, are reconciliation, revitalisation and healing also processes? If so, what are they like?
- Surprise us – what other views to the subject “FIGHT / KAMPPAILU” you might have?
On the concept of Arctic
Usually the concepts of “art” and “artist” are defined by the Western understanding of history and culture. Arctic areas are seen as a periphery and Arctic cultures are seen as the exotic other. The purpose of this division is to strengthen the identity of the Western culture as the primary hegemonic norm. Nevertheless, to be Arctic is something sovereign and independent: it doesn’t need to reflect itself for Western/Southern/non-Arctic identities to be defined. To be Arctic could mean something amazing, surprising and unique. However, it also means everyday life: things that are important but difficult to “sell” under any brand. We would like to ask what does Arctic mean to the people of the Arctic themselves, from their own viewpoint with their own verbal or visual language.
On Kven Culture
The Kven people have been a part of the Northern hemisphere for a long time and in Norway they make up one of five national minority groups. They wandered from what today is the northern parts of Sweden, Finland and Russia to the coastline of the North of Norway. One does not know when the first Kven people settled down by the coastline of the Northern Norway, but there are sources confirming Kvens living in Alta in the early 1500s.
The Kven people brought with them agricultural techniques that was sustainable in harsh environments. They had boat building techniques perfect for the shallow rivers. They burned tar, fished in the Norwegian Sea, and built houses and saunas, creating communities in the deep fjords and at the exposed coast lines. The Kven people were seen as a resourceful people, bringing along traditions, good work ethics and great stories. Their language developed over time in a different direction than the Finnish language today, and was called the Kven language. In a parallel manner the Meänkieli language developed in northernmost Sweden and in the areas of the Torne River Valley. Meänkieli and Kven are similar both in terms of grammar and vocabulary.
Some areas, the Kven people lived side by side with both Norwegian and Sámi people. Other areas were more concentrated either Kven or Sámi. It was not unusual to marry across cultures and languages, and many locals talked both two or three languages to communicate with their fellow neighbors.
Kven people wandered also before Finland became a separate nation-state. They followed the resources and opportunities because of famine, war, family reunions, and maybe a sense of adventure. It’s also worth of noting that the wandering of Kvens can’t be understood through modern terms of immigration, emigration or nationality.
AVVOIN NÄYTTELYKUTTU
Translated into Kven by Liisa Koivulehto
Young Arctic Artists 2021 näyttely nostaa kartale arktisen alan uusia kunstnääriitä. Näyttely tullee olemhaan Gallery Napassa, Mustanapassa ja Rovaniemen ympäristössä 4.9.2021 – 28.9.2021. Hiljemin oon kans plaanerattu toinen näyttely Tromssassa (info tulle hiljemin). Näyttelyn manageeri oon lappilainen kunstnääriiten yhistys Lapin taitelijaseura ja kurattorijoukko oon: Panu Johansson (FI), Savu E. Korteniemi (FI), Katriina Pedersen (NO) and Åsne Kummeneje Mellem (NO).
YAA oon ennen järjestänny kolme internasjonaalii näyttely. Jokhaisessa oon ollu oma teema ja oma paikalinen fokus. Vuoen teema oon FIGHT / KAMPPAILU. Haje mukhaan neljentheen Young Arctic Artisthiin sinun teoksella eli prosektilla.
Näyttelytyö saattaa olla valmis työ eli vasta plaana mikä valmistuu hiljemin. Oman prosjektin esitelhään pdf-formaatissa ja fristi sen lähättämisheen oon 31. oktooperikuuta tänä vuona. Lähätä haku ja CV e-posthiin: youngarcticartists@gmail.com
Fristi oon 31 oktooperikuu 2020 (kello 24.00 GMT+2).
FIGHT / KAMPPAILU
Näyttely oon aukia kaikile, oli sinun tavus eli likemisvinkkeli mikä tahansa, mutta toivoma eriliikaisesti ette nuoret kväänit, miltä tahansa kunstin eli luovan esittämisen alalta tulleeva myötä.
Se sanothaan ushein ette arktisella alalla ja pohjaisessa Fennoskandiassa asuu alkupöräiskansoja ja majoriteettikansaa. Mutta tämä ei ole koko tottuus. Täälä assuu ihmisiä jokka ei ole majoriteettii eikä heitä räknätä alkupöräiskansaksikhaan. Oon tarpheelista luoa oma arktinen kulttuuri. Halluuma saaha lissää arktisiä ääniä, ja Young Arctic Artist 2021-prosjekti lissää arktisten äänien diversiteetiä.
Minoriteetit häättyy ushein taistela oman kielen ja kulttuurin tähen. Yhtäaikkaa minoriteetti rangaisthaan tästä taistelusta. Se voipi olla ette majoriteetti ei hyväksy tämmöstä konfliktia, mutta ehkä suurin uhka oon se ettei kestävää kulturia saa ko koko aijan oon kamppailussa.
Kvääniaktivisti ja kurattori Katriina Pedersen sannoo:
«Ko ihminen oon uhattu, hänelä oon kolme valinttaa: Taistela, pajeta eli jäättyyt paikale. Net oon hyvät valinat silloin ko uhka tullee hopusti. Mutta ko uhkatila jatkuu eli emmä saata varjela itteä, siitä tullee probleema. Mie saatan kamppaila minun kielen puolesta, mie saatan pajeta minun kielestä ja mie saatan fryysätä minun kielheen. Kaikki täheliset responsit kielen assimilaatihoon. Kunka se kvääniilä ja muila minoriteetiila mennee – elläävätkö kaikki jatkuuvan assimilasuuni-stressin alla? Mie opetan kväänin kieltä ja kulttuuria mutta minun sisälä oon ushein konflikti justhiinsa tämän tähen. Eikö se olis helpompi tyhä heittäät koko homman? Se oon kuitenki kumma kunka ihmiset ruppee puhumhaan kvääni ja olemhaan kvääni silloin ko net just heittää kamppailun / pavon / fryysäyksen.»
– Kamppailu saattaa olla kollektiivista eli individuaalista. Se saattaa koskee kulttuuria eli kieltä. Se saattaa olla hengelistä eli näkkyyvää. Pientä, suurta, tavalista, polittista – eli kaikkee näitä.
– Kunka sie haluat taistela – tai mitä taistelua sie pölkkäät – tulleevaisuudessa?
– Mitä kieli merkittee sinule?
– Met taistelemma jotaki vasthaan mutta taistelemma kans jonku puolesta. Mitä sovinto ja elvytys merkittee sinule?
– Yllättä meät! Mikkä oon sinun hunteerinkit?
