Image 6. Tomas Colbengtson, active use of transparency of glass and shadows in his work. (2022). Photo: Tor Egil Rasmussen

Performance Internships During "Performance Studies in Sapmi" Festival

During the "Performance Studies in Sápmi" festival, three performance art students from the Vilnius Academy of Arts were invited to collaborate with three Sámi artists in one-on-one partnerships. These collaborative performances were themed around postcolonial memory, drawing from the artists' personal perspectives and the experiences of their families. The internship provided a unique opportunity for the participants to explore and express their shared and individual histories through performance art.

One of the collaborative pairs, Greta Balčiūnaitė and Marit Bringedal Anti (see Video 2.) created a performance set in the woods, where they danced and interacted with nature. As they moved, their textile clothes were torn and damaged by branches, symbolizing the fragility and resilience of cultural heritage. The artists incorporated traditional woven ribbons from Lithuania and Sápmi, which they collected throughout the performance, representing the interwoven nature of their histories. The performance concluded with a powerful moment as both artists sang simultaneously, blending a traditional Sámi song and a Lithuanian song, creating a dialogue between the two cultures through their voices.

Transgenerational Memory and Postmemory

Theoretical background for this study is based on the concept of transgenerational memory and its expression through artistic work (Griniuk, 2021). The concept is derived from the term 'postmemory' presented by Professor Hirsch (2012), which refers to the memory that is carried by the next generation, following the generation that directly experienced the atrocities of political aggression, such as during the Soviet era in Lithuania. The stories of these events are passed down through recollections, images, photographs, texts, letters, and other artifacts that carry the experiences lived by those who were present at the site and time (Hirsch, 2012). According to this theoretical perspective, photographs and images are powerful signifiers that shape individual identity through the stories they carry over time. Postmemory, when encountered by new generations, becomes intimate and personal, and they embody these memories, not only as heritage but also as a claim and call for justice. Professor Kuhn (2020) emphasizes that such an intimate and personal statement of belonging is built on the narratives of parents and grandparents, where the societal scale of the experienced past embodies one's personal family history and identity.

Artistic Research

The method used in this study is artistic research. Artistic research is a relatively new and evolving field of research that seeks to use artistic methods and practices as a means of investigating and understanding complex issues. As noted by Jones (2009), one of the key characteristics of artistic research is its ability to develop new ways of dealing with issues that may be uncertain, ambiguous, or otherwise difficult to understand using traditional research methods. Through the process of creating and engaging with art, artistic research can provide new insights into the nature of art itself, as well as into broader philosophical and societal issues.

Busch (2009) notes that artistic research can be seen as a methodology for obtaining new information and creating new outcomes. In other words, rather than simply producing new art for its own sake, artistic research seeks to use the process of creating art as a means of exploring new ideas and perspectives. This can involve questioning traditional assumptions about art and its relationship to society, as well as challenging established norms and conventions.

Henke et al. (2020) emphasize the critical nature of artistic research, noting that it involves evaluating the meaning and content of artistic practice in a rigorous and reflective way. Through this process, artistic research can help to uncover new insights about the nature of art and its relationship to society, as well as to promote more nuanced and thoughtful approaches to artistic practice.

Finally, Rouhiainen (2017) notes that artistic research can serve as a productive agent of change, both within the world of art and beyond. By using artistic practices to engage with complex societal issues, artistic research can help to challenge established norms and create new possibilities for understanding and addressing these issues. The researcher in this study is actively involved in three of the cases: as an artist, a curator, and as a co-organizer of the event. The study explores the points of intersection between the artworks, as well as within the artwork itself, where the researcher is involved as a spectator. The analysis is done by exploring the visual narrative strategies used by the artists and identifying the similarities and differences within these strategies. Furthermore, the researcher examines the strategies used in presenting the artworks to audiences.

Reflexive Analysis

The research data, which contains photographic images and video, as well as researcher notes by the artist and curator, is analyzed using the tools of reflexive analysis. "Reflexivity has become a means of understanding knowledge production. The process involves reflecting on the knowledge that researchers produce and their role in producing that knowledge" (Ide & Beddoe, 2023, online source). This is why the author's and researcher's experience in the field of art, performance, and research is crucial in conducting reflexive analysis.

Francisco et al. (2023, p. 242) define reflexivity in research in the following way in connection to collective work: "Reflexivity is a set of continuous, collaborative, and multifaceted practices through which researchers self-consciously critique, appraise, and evaluate how their subjectivity and context influence the research processes." In the current research, reflexivity is connected primarily to the author but builds on numerous conversations with collaborators and audiences, which were journaled in the author's notes. Reflexive analysis has its limitations due to the narrow scope of work by the author, whose main areas of expertise are Indigenous art, performance, curating, and artistic research.

Artistic Works

The current study is based on four artworks that serve as cases for analysis: “Reflexive dancing with the ground” (2022), a video performance by Griniuk; “Grandpa and Grandma” (2007) by Beinoriūtė; the exhibition “When shapes and shadows speak” (2022) by Colbengtson, which the author curated; and the artwork “Borders – Color of colonialism” (2020) by Lena Stenberg, presented at the exhibition “The Sámi Parliament’s art purchases and acquisition 2020-2022” at the Sami Center for Contemporary Art. The author's position varies across the cases, with involvement as the artist in the first case, spectator in the second case, curator in the third case, and co-organizer of the exhibition in the fourth case.

“Reflexive dancing with the ground”

The author is the artist of the artwork. The case of “Reflexive Dancing with the Ground” is one of the performance artworks produced by Griniuk, in which she narrates the colonial history within the history of Lithuania. In her earlier work during 2021, she actively used photographs of her grandparents and their land in Lithuania within her performances (see image 1). However, in 2022, having relocated to the Arctic North, she started to work with the Arctic nature directly, involving her body as the carrier of the Lithuanian history narratives. Within her artwork “Reflexive Dancing with the Ground” (see image 2 and 3), Griniuk connects to the Arctic landscape, particularly with the awareness that her current location is only 300 km from the Kola Peninsula where deportations of Lithuanian people happened during the Soviet era, lasting from 1940 to 1991 (Vilpišauskas, 2014). Griniuk works with the format of video performance, collecting artefacts from the Arctic forest ground, whose tactility, structure, and softness are new to her. She opposes her domestic experience of nature to the one in the Arctic North. Her work takes the format of remediation, where, from the experience of walking on the moss, while embodying Lithuanian trans-generational memory, she immerses the narrative-based staged performance with the fragments of the moss on her body and surrounding, to the painted reflection on this experience. In this artwork, she activates her knowledge of her country's history, the concrete body representing Lithuania, and the new location of that body immersing the tactility of the surrounding nature, which is close to the one carrying the painful narrative and trans-generational trauma for many Lithuanians.

The artwork was shown in a group show at the Gallery Arka in Vilnius, Lithuania, within the project “Common Ground”. This artwork was surrounded by two paintings by Griniuk, suggesting to the viewer to treat it as an image as well. No additional text was provided to explain the artwork. The viewer needed to engage with the entire video to catch the narrative and situate the story-telling within this artwork. Thus, for viewers who would not invest themselves in watching the entire video, the impression from the artwork would be fragmentary, depicting a female figure and moss. For those who stopped and watched the entire video, the story of the exile of Lithuanians to the Arctic North would unfold.

Within the festival Performance Studies in Sápmi, the intention was to unite Baltic and Sámi artists working with the themes of postmemory, colonization, and deportation. The performance festival also challenged institutional norms, as Griniuk took on multiple roles—acting as a manager, curator, and performer simultaneously.

In all of her performances, she wears a costume with silkscreen prints depicting images from her previous performances or projects. For example, an image of a cat from her BiteVilnius project (2013–ongoing) appears as a logo. In a way, it is difficult to determine where one artistic project ends and another begins, and similarly, when working interdisciplinarily, when one role transitions into another—for example, when she is a curator and when she is a manager.

The theme of the performance was connected to the aggression of the Soviet regime. She used photographs of her family members, covering and uncovering them with moss as a gesture of care and resilience. Narratives about the Soviet occupation have always been present in her family, including traumatic stories told by her grandmother. One such story involved the aggression experienced by the author’s great-grandfather at the hands of the authorities.

Flour appears in the performance as the final sequence, where it flows freely with the wind, gradually covering the performer's body.

“Grandpa and Grandma”

The author of this article viewed the film 'Grandpa and Grandma' (2007) and reflects on the ways in which the filmmaker Beinoriūtė addresses the narrative retold by her ancestors and the photo archive of her grandparents. In her film, Beinoriūtė addresses the narrative recounted by her ancestors and the photo archive of her grandparents who were deported from their lands by the Soviet regime (See image  4). She aesthetically connects photographs, video documentary, drawings, and narrative told by the voice of a child about her grandparents' story and the history of deportations. The photographs, as signifiers of the personal story connected to the family, are contrasted with video fragments from public spaces under the Soviet regime. The animated drawings within the film's visual expression add even more personal elements to the storytelling. The drawings bring the photographs to life within the moving images. The film is shown in media channels and film venues, and today, it is available in the Lithuanian Film Fund archive for any interested viewer. In this case, the filmmaker does not have control over her viewers as the film can reach anyone anywhere through distribution via digital channels, including local and international audiences.

There is no possibility to see the film with a free access, but the film with subscription is avaliable  here https://www.monoklis.lt/projects/grandpa-and-grandma/.

“Borders – Color of colonialism”

The author's encounter with the artwork "Borders – Color of colonialism" occurred as a co-organizer of the exhibition where the artwork was displayed. Therefore, the author serves as a communicator of the artwork to the audience through her affiliation with the Sámi Center for Contemporary Art. In her artwork "Borders - Colours of Colonialism" (2020), Stenberg addresses the history of the Sámi people (See Image 5). Stenberg uses the photo archive of her ancestors to communicate the struggles of the Sámi people and the consequences of the country borders of Norway, Sweden, and Finland on the Sámi people's lives. The introduction of borders, represented in her artwork by the three national flags, contrasts with the achromatic images of her ancestors in the photographs. This contrast highlights the strength of the people in the images, as well as the aggression underlined by the colors of the flags. Stenberg's "Borders – Color of colonialism" reassembles the flags, with the artwork created on the textiles that would be used for flag production. Central to the history visually retold by Stenberg is the legacy of strict border demarcations between Norway, Finland, and Sweden, which have had profound and lasting impacts on the lives and livelihoods of the Sámi people. The Sámi people have been oppressed by the dominant cultures and political systems that have governed their lives. Indeed, her artwork serves as a powerful voice for the issues of land separation and cultural opression.

Through her deft manipulation of form, space, and materiality, Stenberg creates immersive and evocative work that engage the viewer on multiple levels, drawing attention to the complex interplay between the personal and the political, the historical and the contemporary. The artwork is displayed as part of a group exhibition where the textile objects are exhibited horizontally, one after another, creating a powerful statement of space and time in the exhibition hall. The artworks attract the viewer from a distance and invite them into an in-depth investigation of the photographic images within them. To highlight the narrative within the artwork, the artist Lena Stenberg was invited to give an artist talk prior to the exhibition opening, where she explained her research and work with the archive of photographs of her relatives and ancestors in Sápmi. Her art speaks to the profound and enduring legacy of colonialism and cultural hegemony in the North, while also offering a vision of resilience, resistance, and hope for the future. Ultimately, Stenberg's work is a testament to the enduring power of art to bear witness to injustice, to inspire change, and to give voice to the oppressed. To communicate this artwork to the audience, background knowledge is needed. Therefore, by arranging the artist's talk, the story could be unfolded directly from the perspective of the artist.

“When Shapes and Shadows speak”

Within the project "When Shapes and Shadows Speak," the author acted as the exhibition curator for an exhibition at the Sámi Center for Contemporary Art, presenting the most recent artworks of Tomas Colbengtson created between 2018 and 2022 (See Image 8). Colbengtson addresses the themes of remembrance and colonial history within the Sámi region, utilizing various modalities such as printmaking, glass, and installation to translate his visual expression into dialogue with the exhibition space and the timeline of his research material. His research deals with language and religious prohibition in the Sámi area, racial biological research conducted at Uppsala University, and cultural oppression. Colbengtson actively uses the photo archive of various generations of Sámi people in the Sámi village of Tärnaby, Sweden, where he comes from, as well as from various locations in Sápmi. Through talking to various generations and taking on the perspective of himself at different stages of his life and artistic career, he observes how his perspective as a Sámi artist evolves over time. He uses archive images and his own self-portrait to manifest his voice as a representative of the Sámi community (See Image 7). He actively uses the materiality of glass and its transparency, contrasting it with the designed shadows, which gives the narrative Colbengtson creates visual complexity, depth, and elegance as an aesthetic tool in his storytelling (See Image 6).

The exhibition space was designed in a way that visitors would first enter the library created by the artist. In this library, Colbengtson provided books and research material about the history of the Sámi people and Sápmi for visitors to read and investigate, material that he uses in his works. Visitors could immerse themselves in the material by entering the library within the installation. They would then enter the second space of the exhibition, divided by a movable wall, which comprised the glass sculptures and installation along with the two-dimensional works on the walls. The archive material incorporates his personal storytelling in the site-specific installation at the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art. This installation features the memories of the artist's childhood, the nature and culture of the indigenous community, and the past and present layers of socio-cultural palimpsest within the Sámi region.

Contemporary Artworks Speak: the Traumatic Transgenerational Memory

Dr. Marija Griniuk

Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuania

Introduction

In 2022-2023, museums and art venues in the Nordic-Baltic region have increasingly incorporated artworks as interventions or within large-scale exhibitions that explore unacknowledged and heavy histories. The Sámi Center for Contemporary Art in Karasjok (SDG) (https://samidaiddaguovddas.no/en/us/), as an institution with a role in making artistic, cultural, and political statements, has always aimed to communicate human rights and equality through its exhibitions. However, working with themes such as colonial history in Sápmi and Gulag in the history of the Soviet era in the Baltics requires careful consideration and knowledge of strategies to communicate such themes to a broad audience.

The study presents the following concepts: performance art, transgenerational trauma, re-mediation and curating practices as ethical curating. Performance art here is rooted in the explanation by Schechner (Schechner, 1977), which states that performance is a broad field of study and involves a site, time, performer, and audience. Transgenerational trauma is explained as trauma experienced by an older generation and narrated as a narrative to the younger generation (Hirsch, 2012). Epigenetic memory refers to the physiological process of memory being transferred across generations (Fischer, 2014). As for curatorial practice as ethical curating, according to Chen (2024, no page, online source), "As in the case with other occupations, a professional ethic usually replaces personal ethics when an individual practices her profession; yet in curating, especially for independent curators, it is the personal ethic that becomes professionalized." A curator works through the perception of curatorial knowledge and an individual curatorial statement, where personal ethics is at the core. Re-mediation means that all media builds on other media (Toivanen et al, 2021).

In 2024, Griniuk initiated and realized the first edition of the performance festival "Performance Studies in Sápmi" (https://samidaiddaguovddas.no/en/performance-studies-sapmi/), specifically themed around politically charged performance art from the Baltics and Sápmi. The festival focused on reflecting on the colonial past of these two regions through live art, encouraging participants to address their own stories and family narratives in their artworks. A group of three performance art students from Vilnius Academy of Arts were invited for an internship in June 2024 in Karasjok, on the Norwegian side of Sápmi, to collaborate with young Sámi performance artists. Together, they worked on creating performances that reflect on the colonial history of both regions—from the perspective of Sápmi and the Baltics.

In "Reflexive dancing with the ground," Griniuk uses bodily connectedness with Arctic moss and nature to tell the history of Lithuanians' deportations to the Kola Peninsula. "Grandma and Grandpa" (2007) is a film by Beinoriutė that recounts the exile of her grandparents and family to Siberia in 1948, using documentary photography, video, and animation. Colbengtson addresses in "When Shapes and Shadows Speak" his Sámi identity, history, and contemporarity by working with archives of Sámi culture from his perspective as a Sámi Indigenous artist. Stenberg in ""Borders - Color of colonialism" investigates her family archive history of her Sámi ancestors from the perspective of Sámi history.

Such artworks need to contain refined strategies for communicating traumatic transgenerational memory and require careful consideration of ethical communication by curators and exhibition architects when including them in exhibitions and art event spaces. According to Chen "curation itself is ethics" (Chen, 2024, po page, online source). "...Curation (is) not only as selection, design, interpretation, and presentation, but also “caring” or “care-taking” revealed in the intersubjective and intimate relations is an ethical interpellation and response" (Chen, 2024, po page, online source). The research question is: How can themes of Gulag, colonial history and traumatic transgenerational memory be addressed by the artists and by curators in large-scale exhibitions and art venues?

The aim of this study is to outline the tools used by the artists and the strategies for presenting these artworks to various audiences. The objectives of this study are: to analyze the four cases of artistic production, two by Lithuanian artists and two by Sámi artists; to exemplify how young generation of Baltic and Sámi performance artists work with theme of postcolonial memory though the lense of their family histories; to make a comparative analysis of the tools used by the artists within their visual expression; to address the strategies used when curating the presentation of these artworks to audiences; and to extract an outline of the main tools used by the artists and the strategies for presenting these artworks to audiences. One of the goals of this paper is also to reflect on and answer the question of why it is important to encourage young artists to address the theme of postcolonial memory. The study is conducted using artistic research methods and the materials used include photo documentation of the production process and artistic materials, which are analyzed using reflexive analysis. The main findings are the key tools of visual communication used by the artists within the provided cases and the curatorial methods used for communicating the artworks in large-scale events. These tools are useful for curators at museums and art venues.

Analysis

Archives: potentialities and uniqueness

The case works utilize personal and historical archives—ranging from family photographs to nature and traditional objects—to narrate complex histories of colonialism and personal memory and storrytelling of the families of artists. The images of the archives, the photographs, are interconnected with artistic medium, or translated through the artistic medium into the new visual expression: a performance, a silkscreen print, or an animation. For example  Beinoriūtė’s film “Grandpa and Grandma” (2007) demonstrates how archival photographs, combined with other media such as drawing, animation and voice-over narration, can re-mediate family histories for contemporary audiences. When using the archive in art, this gesture suggests a first-hand touch—the witnessing of someone who has lived through the narrated story. Transgenerational memory is embodied in the faces of concrete individuals in the photographs. The potential of addressing the archive lies in actively using objects preserved by families or institutions over time and reactivating them in new contexts. This approach unites the archive with artistic techniques, mediums, and new technologies.

Artworks in dialogue

The commonalities will be analyzed among the artists in the provided cases and the visual methods they employ to bring viewers into their artworks, revealing the difficult moments of history and personal narratives of colonized lands. As the postmemory theory suggests (Hirsch, 2012), images such as photographs manifest the presence of narratives experienced through generations in the current generation. In both the film "Grandpa and Grandma" and the artwork "Borders - Color of colonialism," the photographs of ancestors position the voice of the artist as the narrator, recounting something that is intimately connected to their family. Although the distance in time situates these narratives in the past, they are conveyed from the perspective of the contemporary artist. As Kuhn (2020) suggests, memory becomes the methodology for situating historical narratives into the present. Colbengtson employs this methodology by combining images of the past and present into the same artistic work. Regardless, the depth of the narrative is reached through the manifestation that painful history is not resolved and forgotten but requires constant discussion and revisitation. In light of current events in Oslo, including the protest of young Sámi people against the violation of their rights and the human rights of Indigenous people in March 2023, as well as the war in Ukraine (the current exposition was written in the period March 2023 - September 2024), it is clear that the colonial past can no longer be negotiated within the framework of the past. However, consciousness of the past may help to build a sustainable future where many worlds can coexist.

The artists use their own bodies and identities within their artworks. In the case of Griniuk's work, she sometimes removes photographs from her family archive in her performances, such as those in 2022, although she actively used them in her performances in 2021 and June 2024. In performances without photographs, she assumes that her body and the Arctic nature within the narrative can convey the story of the past to the viewer. In this approach, she, as both the artist and a person from Lithuania, is capable of telling the story herself, withive the archival photographic images. A similar situation is present in the film "Grandpa and Grandma" (2007), where the filmmaker manifests herself as a Lithuanian person. In the practices of Colbentgtson and Stenberg, identity and national belonging are at the core. The artists manifest their background as Sámi Indigenous artists. This suggests that the identity of the artist, in politically and historically loaded artworks, is inseparable from the artworks themselves. Nonetheless, this leaves the viewers with the question of who has the right to speak on whose behalf and if international artists could work with similar themes to a similar extent. This reminds us of the notion of proper distance and proper proximity to create politically loaded artworks (Garcés, 2017).

Various strategies are employed when curating and presenting artworks that address colonial memory, painful pasts, and historical narratives. However, it seems most beneficial for visitors to learn about the artistic work from the artist's perspective. This approach was implemented by organizing an artist talk with Lena Stenberg before the exhibition, allowing her to present her artwork to the audience directly. Tomas Colbengtson also provided viewers with access to his research materials in the exhibition’s library, offering deeper insight into his work.

In contrast, the works of the Lithuanian artists stand alone in the viewing space without direct interaction from the artists. Griniuk’s video performance serves as an aesthetic experience for those passing by or as an in-depth narrative for those who take the time to watch the entire video. Similarly, Beinoriūtė's film is available to a wider audience through digital media channels, which means the filmmaker no longer has control over who views her film or how it is perceived.

It's worth noting that the artworks discussed in this analysis, despite their different mediums and approaches, share a common goal: to shed light on and address the painful histories of colonialism and its lasting effects. By using personal narratives, family histories, and national identities, the artists aim to challenge the dominant colonial narratives and bring to the forefront the voices and experiences of the colonized people. This is especially important in the current political climate, where the resurgence of far-right movements and the rise of xenophobia and nationalism pose a threat to the progress made in acknowledging and addressing the legacies of colonialism. These artworks are not only expressions of the artists' individual perspectives and experiences, but also serve as a means of creating public awareness and fostering empathy towards the colonized people and their histories.

Poetics within the artworks

The artworks address ancestral narratives through performance, visually and through sound, enacting postmemory. In the case of exhibitions, postmemory and artists' identities are crucial for the embodiment of ancestral narratives. The materiality of the artworks serves as a medium for storytelling, incorporating elements such as textiles, photographs, moss, and flour. Poetics, in this sense, emerges through the artists' embodiment of their family narratives, as well as through the materials, tools, and objects used in the production, performance, or installation of the artworks.

Curating and the diversity of choices

When working in the Indigenous art context, being extremely conscious of decision-making in curatorial practices is crucial. Due to specific narratives, traditions, and uses—such as duodji—the curator, if not Indigenous themselves, cannot, in the author's opinion, work alone in developing concepts or exhibitions. For this reason, projects always involve close collaboration with the Sámi community, artists, and experts, such as those specializing in the Sámi language.

There are many aspects that a non-Indigenous curator simply cannot fully understand due to their own background. While curatorial choices can be diverse, the final decision-making process is always guided by what is approved by the Indigenous community or its representatives.

For the author, working within Lithuanian contexts was a different experience, as she was a representative from within the community. However, community and authority are understood here as distinct categories. The author has consistently worked in a highly horizontal manner, promoting a non-hierarchical approach to management, curation, and artistic practice.

Young artists working with Postcolonial memory as a theme: why it is important to encourage adressing this theme?

Griniuk initiated the internships for young performance artists (18-35 y.o.) with several aims. Firstly, young artists need international experience to expand their networks, and it is important for them to meet colleagues with similar medium and themes. On the other hand, Griniuk was interested if the theme of postcolonial memory and the history of their lands would appeal to and resonate with the young artists from Lithuania and Sápmi.

The artists were chosen to take part in the internship, based on their work with performance art, but the theme was suggested to them by the event organizer and curator. This does not necessarily mean that the young artists had previously worked with the postcolonial memory theme or explored this thematic framework through their identities and national belonging in previous cases of their art.

As exemplified by the case-performance (See Video 2), the artists used their common medium—dance—as the entry point, and within this medium, they layered national elements, such as the woven ribbons. The culminating moment, where they sang their national songs simultaneously, was targeted at audiences from both Lithuania and Sápmi. Although a Lithuanian listener might not recognize the Sámi joik, the style of the Lithuanian song would be familiar and easily recognizable. Both songs performed by the artists were drawn from those their grandparents used to sing, creating a direct connection to family history. By voicing these songs, the artists brought their experiences into a contemporary narrative. 

To answer the question of why it is important to encourage young artists to address postcolonial memory as a theme, firstly, it is fascinating to see how the new generation of artists—who are one generation further removed than Griniuk from direct connections with grandparents and great-grandparents—engage with these narratives of lived experience. It’s interesting to observe how young artists address these themes and how the sensory approach to re-narrated stories evolves, or if it changes at all. It also reveals how history, retold through family stories, travels through generations and resonates in the present day.

Conclusion

The artworks of Lithuanian and Sámi artists effectively communicate traumatic transgenerational memory to their audiences through various curatorial tools. By incorporating the signifiers of the past, including photographs of their ancestors and locations in Sápmi and Arctic North, the artists actively utilize the theoretical notion of postmemory. Through the place, images of the past, and the artist's body, the narrative is created, manifesting a sense of belonging and a longing for justice and a future where multiple worlds can coexist. The identity of the artists representing the Sámi and Lithuanian people is crucial to creating the embodied narrative, with the proper proximity to the narrative created by the artists' belonging to the community and the narrative itself.

Curatorial strategies employed to connect the artworks to the audiences vary, from providing the artist's own perspective via an artist talk or inviting visitors to access research materials related to the artworks, to presenting the artworks as standalone material without control over the audience or how they perceive the artworks and films. The artists’ use of archives provides a platform for critical reflection on the impact of colonialism on their cultures. By highlighting personal and collective histories, these works offer a form of resistance and reclaim space for underrepresented narratives. This approach not only preserves memory but also challenges dominant historical discourses. Stenberg’s artwork integrates archival photographs of her ancestors with modern-day political symbols, such as national flags, to create a narrative that critiques colonial power dynamics. This fusion of historical and contemporary elements makes the archive a dynamic medium, capable of evolving and speaking to current issues. The paired performances, such as those by Greta Balčiūnaitė from Lithuania and Marit Bringedal Anti from Sápmi, weave together the narratives of their respective cultures, using traditional songs and woven textiles as a means of cross-cultural communication of the two communities that experienced colonilism from different perspectives. 

The intersection of art, identity, and history is complex and multifaceted, and requires careful consideration by artists, curators, and audiences alike. The artworks discussed in this analysis demonstrate the power of art to communicate transgenerational memory and to confront difficult histories. However, they also raise important questions about the ethics of representation and the challenges of working with politically and historically loaded themes. As museums and other cultural institutions continue to grapple with the legacies of colonialism and other forms of oppression, it is crucial that they engage with artists and communities in a collaborative and respectful manner, and provide platforms for diverse voices to be heard. Only then can the full potential of art as a tool for healing, reconciliation, and social change be realized.

Further investigations can expand the wide spectrum of artistic work by Sámi and Baltic artists who work with themes related to the colonial history of their lands and the atrocities committed by occupying regimes. Similarities in strategies used by Baltic and Sámi artists working with politically charged art could be explored further to better understand how such artworks are created and perceived. This study can serve as a preliminary investigation for future research.

Acknowledgment

Marija Griniuk received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No S-PD-24-49, for this research.

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Schechner, R. (1977). Essays on performance theory, 1970-1976. New York: Drama Book Specialists.

Toivanen, P., Nelimarkka, M., & Valaskivi, K. (2021). Remediation in the hybrid media environment: Understanding countermedia in context. New Media & Society, 24(9), 2127-2152. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444821992701

Vilpišauskas, R. (2014). Lithuania’s double transition after the re-establishment of independence in 1990: coping with uncertainty domestically and externally. Oxford review of economic policy, 30(2), 223-23

Artworks and exhibitions:

Beinoriūtė, G. Grandpa and Grandma. 2007. 

https://lithuanianshorts.com/en/film-database/grandpa-and-grandma/

Colbengtson, T. When Shapes and Shadows speak. 2022. https://samidaiddaguovddas.no/en/remembrance-when-shapes-and-shadows-speak/

Griniuk, M. Performing with the photographs of her grandparents and their farm. 2021. 

Griniuk, M. Reflexive dancing with the ground. 2022. https://youtu.be/PaN0nL-oyS8

Stenberg, L. Borders – Color of colonialism. 2020. https://samidaiddaguovddas.no/en/lena-stenberg-borders/

Video 1. Marija Griniuk performing with the Arctic moss and the archive of her family photographs. "Arctic Moss as the Symbol for Endurance". (2024). Performed during "Performance Studies in Sápmi" performance festival.  Sámi Center for Contemporary Art, Karasjok, Norway. Camera: Albinas Liutkus.

Image 5. The artwork “Borders – Color of colonialism” .(2020). Lena Stenberg, presented at the Sámi Center for Contemporary Art (2023). Photo: Tor Egil Rasmussen.

Video 2.  Internship at "Performance Studies in Sápmi" performance festival .(2024). Greta Balčiūnaitė (Lithuania) and Marit Bringedal Anti (Norwegian side of Sápmi) performing  during "Performance Studies in Sápmi" performance festival.  Sámi Center for Contemporary Art, Karasjok, Norway. Camera: Albinas Liutkus.

Image 1. Marija Griniuk performing with the photographs of her grandparents and their farm. Parnu. (2021). Photo: Tue Brisson Mosich

Image 3. Marija Griniuk, “Reflexive dancing with the ground”, videoperformance. (2022). Still from videoperformance.

Image 8. Tomas Colbengtson, Exhibition “When Shapes and Shadows speak”. (2022). Photo: Tor Egil Rasmussen

Image 4. Giedrė Beinoriūtė, “Grandpa and Grandma” .(2007). Video stills.

Image 2. Marija Griniuk, “Reflexive dancing with the ground”, videoperformance. (2022). Still from videoperformance.

Image 7. Tomas Colbengtson. Use of the artists self-portrait at the young age along with the archive photographs. (2022). Photo: Tor Egil Rasmussen