Ansgar Ole Olsen’s “My Landscape Mountain – Shoreline – Sea” exhibition
Ansgar Ole Olsen’s “My Landscape Mountain – Shoreline – Sea” exhibition took place between 7 October 2023 and 14 January 2024 (http://www.ansgaro.no/). Olsen is a Sámi artist who combines the reuse of materials from old machinery, vehicles, and agricultural tools with a modernist visual language. His works in stainless steel, lacquered, or eroded rusted steel explore objects, motifs, and materials from industrial and labour history, as well as coastal culture, presented in a stylised, abstract, and often playful form. The musician Anna Tunold was invited to create music inspired by the artworks featured in the exhibition. Tunold selected three sculptures and composed music inspired by their shapes and materials. Her compositions were performed during the exhibition’s opening event, accompanied by Tunold’s presentation of the process of translating sculpture into music.
Tunold’s innovative approach to music composition involved a deep exploration of the visual elements of the chosen sculptures. By delving into the forms, textures, and overall aesthetics of each artwork, Tunold drew inspiration to craft musical compositions that echoed the essence of the sculptures in her interpretation.
Geir Nustad’s “My Origins, My Culture” exhibition
The third case is Geir Nustad’s “My Origins, My Culture” exhibition, which was held between 1 July and 17 September 2023 (https://geirnustad.com/). The exhibition took the form of a contemplation of his family’s origins in the Sámi geographical area and Sámi culture. Through extensive work and an exploration of the Sámi people’s spiritual realm and daily life, Nustad created a series of three-dimensional objects and installations from glass as part of his rediscovery of his Sámi heritage as an artist. Nustad’s installations reflect on the complex history of the Sámi people and their colonial past, as well as a desire to preserve Sámi culture and tradition. His installations’ various elements represent the chapters in his personal journey to reconnect with his Sámi heritage and discover his place within it. Nustad invited the Sámi artist Silja Skoglund as a guest exhibitor in his exhibition.
The musicians Hildá Länsman and Lávre, depicted in an image above (Image 1) are two talented yoikers and musicians from the younger generation in Sápmi. They possess a deep mastery of the traditional Sámi vocal technique known as luohti (yoik) from their respective regions. During the performance, they presented three sequences, each exploring the contemporary division of Sápmi through their musical expressions within Lena Stenberg’s exhibition.
The “What Are You Alone” exhibition
The second case, the “What Are You Alone” exhibition, lasted from 1 July 1 to 17 September 2023. This exhibition pays tribute to all those who work for the Sámi community, recognising the invaluable contributions of individuals dedicated to shaping Sámi communities’ future. From passing down knowledge to future generations, defending Sámi rights, preserving traditions, and land to storytelling, countless individuals have made significant efforts to uplift Sámi society.
Curated by Laila Susanna Kuhmunen, Berit Kristine Andersen Guvsám, and Sandra Márjá West, with guidance from researcher and curator Tuija Hautala-Hirvioja, this exhibition as a collaborative project between the Sami Centre for Contemporary Art – Sámi Dáiddaguovddáš and RiddoDuottarMuseat.
The exhibition was part of the Sámi Curator Educational Programme at the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art in 2022–2023. The curators focused on the interactivity of the exhibition space and created an installation in which facilitated meetings and discussions between visitors could happen. The exhibition had a space where visitors could gather for an embroidery session, experience togetherness, and reflect on the artworks they had seen.
The exhibition featured works by the following Sámi artists: Ellen Kitok Anderson; Jon Ole Andersen; Laila Brandsfjell; Folke Fjällström; Aage Gaup; Trygve Lund Guttormsen; Liisa Helander; Rose-Marie Huuva; Lisbeth Kielatis; Petteri Laiti; Randi Marainen; Britta Marakatt-Labba; Hans Ragnar Mathisen; Hilde Skancke Pedersen; Outi Pieski; Anniina Turunen; Johan Rist; Máret Ánne Sara; Hege Siri; Kristin Tårnesvik; and Ingunn Eldbjørg Utsi.
Facilitating Dialogues in Indigenous Sámi Art Projects at the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art in Karasjok
Marija Griniuk
Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuania
Introduction
The current research builds on exhibitions hosted by the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art in Karasjok in 2023. These exhibitions featured Indigenous Sámi artists, involving both curators and non-Indigenous art managers and facilitators. Some projects showcased solo exhibitions by Sámi artists, while others adopted the format of exhibitions based on the RidduDuottar Museum Collection in Karasjok (https://rdm.no/no/). Collaboration with this museum was important because it holds the only large-scale collection of Sámi art, which today contains around 1,600 artworks.
Research question is:
How can the facilitation of meeting within Indigenous art be analysed through the concepts of love and care?
The study aims to uncover the primary methods of facilitation and the application of love and care in creating spaces for interaction between artists, artworks, and audiences at the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art. The exhibitions at the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art are designed dialogically with the artist or collaborating organisation. The selection and placement of the artworks in the gallery spaces are always approached collaboratively. Feedback from the artists on the collaboration and installation processes is always sought after the exhibition is installed.
First, the cases are presented, followed by an analysis applying two keywords – facilitation and love. Remediation is understood and applied as the process of reinterpreting a thematic framework across different media. For example, this occurs when the theme of an artwork is translated or remediated into music, thereby extending its expressive potential across various forms, or duodji is remediated into glass. Sensitive documentation, meanwhile, refers to the careful and deliberate process of recording, which is thoroughly discussed and agreed with the artist or any contributors in advance. After the initial editing, the materials are sent to the artists for review. Should any aspects require refinement, the documentation undergoes further editing to ensure it accurately reflects the intended narrative and respects the contributors’ perspectives.
The research method employed is arts-based research. The data consist of visual data in the form of photo documentation and text-based data in the form of notes. The data are approached through reflexive analysis. The analysis of these cases delves into the concept of love, containing sub-concepts such as care, compassion, and empathy. The findings yield key recommendations that facilitators of artistic gatherings can implement in art galleries presenting Indigenous Sámi art.
Theoretical framework: facilitating and love
How to define facilitating
The role of the artist has shifted in the last five decades, from the artist as maker of aesthetic objects to the artist as a facilitator and educator (Kwon, 2002, p.51). “Entry [into a work] is facilitated when the public perceives the work as performing …To be guided through space in a way that rewards the passer-by is of prime value to the public” (Kwon, 2002, p.66). The facilitation process in artistic projects is empowering and spiritually uplifting (Kwon, 2002). The facilitator should always be aware of the contexts in which one is working and the dialogical approach to the community within which one is facilitating, as is critically reflected on by Professor Sheila Preston (2016).
The author defines facilitation as a kind of practice in the arts, drawing on performance modalities and intersecting with architecture, design, sculpture, music, and language, as facilitating takes place within the exhibition space or in a library room where the artists’ selected artworks are displayed and discussed. Specifically, facilitation means creating the perfect environment for discussing and interpreting artworks. Here, the artwork is no longer a static object but a stimulus that sparks critical thinking and nurtures creativity. The difference with non-facilitation is that within non-facilitation, the artworks are stand-alone objects that are available for individual interpretation. With facilitation, the artworks become a catalyst for conversation, allowing a deeper and more meaningful engagement with the art. This does not simply concern what the artwork means to the spectator as an individual, but how it can bring a group together and foster a sense of community. Facilitation is related to architecture, design, and language in the following way: the exhibition, as an individual’s embodied experience involving the exhibition’s architecture and design, is expressed as a pluriversal narrative, built on each individual’s previous knowledge and experience. This multifaceted approach extends to cooperative and community-building practices, involving performance pedagogy, arising from the experiences of practitioners in roles such as arts educators, arts mediators, and arts managing, all involving the construction of communicative systems.
Art creation and facilitation as love and care
The concept of love here contains the sub-concepts of care, compassion, and empathy (Arman & Rehnsfeldt, 2006; Vincent, 2016, Määttä, K., & Uusiautti, 2013; Starratt, 1991). The concept of love is an ethical engagement connecting the artist, artwork, and participants or audiences (Starratt, 1991 in Vincent, 2016). It necessitates deep involvement and compassionate attention (Vincent, 2016). Artistic methods within art exhibition facilitation are analysed through the main concept of love along with the three sub-concepts. Love in art, education, and facilitation are not merely present but the performative and embodied gestures of care (Vincent, 2016), while pedagogy as the method of mediation of art exhibitions builds on the concept of performance pedagogy, which is site- and place-specific and embodied, in the current case. Love here addresses how artists, curators, and art managers treat the audience, and the deep knowledge and understanding of the backgrounds of the involved Indigenous community. In the context of the exhibitions provided, love is seen as multilayered care for the artist, including care about the placement of each artwork in dialogue with them, creating the potential for discussion-based engagement with the audience, and providing a safe space for different perspectives to meet and yield fruitful outcomes. For example, a close dialogue with the artist during the exhibition setup ensures that the artist is the decision maker regarding the exhibition space’s appearance. Love and care in interactions with the artist, as well as in the audience’s engagement with the artworks, are evident and intentional, built on performative gestures that create a safe and welcoming environment. The artist is welcomed to the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art not just as an institution but also in a way that mimics a home environment. For example, the art centre’s director often engages in extensive cooking during the installation days, focusing on traditional Sámi meals. These cooking and collective meal sessions are crucial, serving as gestures of love and care from the institution to the artist.
The curatorial approach at the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art is unique. The development of an exhibition is a conversation with the artist. Over the last two years, decisions have never been one-sided or solely institutional, even down to small details like artwork labels. In general, the gallery staff provides travel and accommodation to artists during the week of the installation. The presence of the artist is crucial, as the dialogue happens in person. Two technicians work closely with the artist, while the institution’s director, who also serves as the curator, develops the texts and labels and focuses on the wellbeing of artists and employees during these periods, particularly in connection with the collective meal sessions, which is specifically done to give the institution the feeling of a home, where the host would cook for and welcome the guests.
Method
This study employs Arts-Based research (Chilton & Leavy, 2014), enabling the reflexive analysis of visual and text-based data, containing both aesthetic and scientific outcomes. A/r/tography, a subset of Arts-Based research in educational research (Irwin, 2013), symbolises the integration of artistic practice, research, and teaching, representing the artist-researcher-teacher. In the learning environment, A/r/tography provides a valuable perspective for facilitators, assisting with the seamless integration of these roles into a third space, creating an “in-between” realm (Irwin, 2013). All the cases within the current exposition are linked to A/r/tography within the realms of artist-facilitators, curator-facilitators, and art managers-facilitators.
A/r/tography defines the multilayered role of an artist who, in the case of an author, simultaneously takes on the roles of gallery director, artist, researcher, educator, and facilitator. This method allows a comprehensive analysis of the situation from this multi-perspective approach. The artists involved in the exhibitions, as well as the curators of exhibitions based on the museum collection, also take on several roles simultaneously, serving as both artists or curators and educators, particularly in connection with audience engagement and their presence in the exhibition space during openings.
The audience feedback system during the exhibitions and events is the direct dialogue with the audience in the informal setting and the guest book, in which the audience can leave their feedback and comments.
Presenting exhibitions at the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art in Karasjok
The exposition is based on the cases of exhibitions by Sámi artists shown at Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art in 2023, where the different generations of Sámi artists were presented, as well as different approaches to the formats of exhibitions: while Lena Stenberg presented her solo show in the entire art centre venue, showing the latest ten years of her work, Geir Nustad’s exhibition was a smaller-scale solo show, exhibited in parallel with the museum collection’s group exhibition. Ansgar Ole Olsen’s exhibition was a solo exhibition showing the latest five years of the artist’s work.
When musicians contribute to the exhibitions, it is always done in dialogue with the artist to ensure a good match between the content of the exhibition and the music. The performance is thus always site- and exhibition-specific. Sometimes the artist suggests the musician, but more often, the art centre makes the suggestion to the artist.
When the audience arrives at the exhibition opening, the director is the first person they meet at the entrance, greeting each person with a warm “Welcome!” Once the audience has settled in, usually in the art centre’ foyer, the director invites everyone to come closer and begins the opening with more extensive welcoming remarks and a brief introduction of the artist. The artist then gives a speech, or in the case of a curated exhibition from the museum’s collection, the curator speaks instead. Then any invited speakers contribute. The final part of the exhibition opening is a performance. After the performance, the audience stays for discussion and light refreshments. When the official part is over, a group of 20–25 people, including the artist, guests, and gallery employees, move to the gallery library room for dinner, which is prepared by the director, or administrative leader of the art centre, often in collaboration with one or two gallery employees. On special occasions such as Sámi National Day, the dinner takes place in the public space where the National Day celebration is being held.
The “Lena Stenberg – Grenser” (Borders) exhibition
The exhibition “Lena Stenberg – Grenser” (Borders) took place from 22 April to 18 June 2023. Lena Stenberg’s diverse and interdisciplinary artistic practice contains sculpture, installation, photography, and collage (https://www.lenastenberg.se/). Central to this exhibition was the narrative of the legacy left by strict border delineations between Norway, Finland, and Sweden, which have had lasting impacts on the lives and livelihoods of the Sámi people.
The pedagogical approach to this exhibition was in creating an art workshop for children, where the children from Karasjok school could discuss the exhibition and create their own flags, based on how they recognised their identity and heritage. As Stenberg is currently mostly working in Malmø in Sweden, there was an urgent need to communicate the exhibition to distant viewers who could not visit the exhibition in person. The exhibition was documented through 3D scanning, allowing viewers to experience the immersive digital representation of Stenberg’s artworks and the thematic exploration of borders. The virtual tour provided an interactive platform for distant audiences to engage with Stenberg’s artistic vision and contemplate the complexities of territorial boundaries and their implications for Indigenous communities.
To explore the exhibition virtually, visit: https://virtualtours.samidaiddaguovddas.no/Lena-Stenberg-Borders/.
Facilitating, remediation and love
The act of cooking as love and care
This section introduces a quotation from the author’s diary to illustrate her choices from her own perspective when integrating the concept of home within love and care at the art centre:
I was thinking about how the art centre could step beyond the framework of a traditional art institution and become a place for community, both formally and informally, in a setting that allows gathering, meeting with friends, and connecting with colleagues. My idea stemmed from memories of my home in Ilgakiemis village in Lithuania. In the early 1900s, the house belonging to my great-grandmother’s parents included a building that was allocated as the community’s school. My great-grandmother was part of the first generation of village children to attend that school.
What I remember from the late 1980s and beyond is that my great-grandmother, in her old age, would host large gatherings with extensive cooking and preparations for the occasions once a month or once a season. These gatherings would bring together 15–20 people, including family members, friends, and friends of friends. I have always been inspired by how she welcomed people into her home – a place that had once also served as an institution, the village school, and her home at the same time (the school was later moved to a different location). This manifestation of love and care through welcoming people and extensive cooking left a lasting impression on me.
When I stepped into the art centre in the role of director/curator/facilitator, my thoughts immediately centred on the connection between the concepts of institution and home. I aimed to bring this intersection to life through exhibition opening events and cooking dinners for the guests after the openings to foster a sense of community within the art centre. In a way, what I experienced as a child in Ilgakiemis came in a different version to life in my facilitation of art events at the art centre.
Examples of facilitation and love in the work of curators and the other actors
The curator always listens actively to the thoughts and reflections circulating among the audience during live events. As it is often difficult to request written feedback afterwards, the live situation can be the only opportunity for the curator to understand if the audience needs any adjustments when organising events.
One example is the timing of events, which is an ongoing matter of change for the curator, also influenced by the seasons. When events in early 2023 were organised during the day, targeting lunchbreaks, there were frequent comments that exhibition openings would be better scheduled at 18:00. The timing has since been shifted to accommodate this preference (until other requests arise).
Another comment circulating in the audience was that the art centre should use more channels for event communication. One visitor mentioned she would prefer personal invitations via email, while an art educator said that receiving invitations via SMS was most convenient for her. These observations indicate that audience members would prefer a more personal approach to communication in addition to generally communicated information such as posters, newsletters, event announcements on the homepage, Facebook, and Instagram.
This is particularly important for an art institution working in the context of smaller art communities. In such a setting, the facilitation of love and care should start with a personal approach to each guest, even in the invitation phase of an art event. However, for the institution, this would require more resources and perhaps a larger team dedicated to communication, along with a research base specifically tailored to develop communication strategies suited to the community in which the institution operates.
The institution leader/curator/facilitator frequently checks in with the artists during the installation process to ensure that everything is going well and to address any adjustments that may be needed. At the end of the installation process, feedback is requested, and in the last two years, the feedback from artists has been positive. During these periods, feedback sessions are also held with employees, and the comments often revolve around the planning process.
Before each exhibition, the institution leader/curator/facilitator prepares a written plan outlining the roles and responsibilities of each employee, and a general planning meeting is held before the start of the installation. However, requests often arise to revisit the planning on a daily basis, with the goals and roles of the employees to be reset each day.
Facilitating
The four cases of the exhibitions exemplified facilitation through love and care by creating inclusive spaces for artistic expression, cultural exploration, and community engagement within the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art. Facilitation was defined as the activity of the manager, who made connections between the artists, their artworks, and musicians, as seen in the case of the Lena Stenberg and Ansgar Ole Olsen exhibitions. The manager, acting as a facilitator, provided musicians with photo- and text-based materials that they could use as an inspiration for their creative processes. Within such facilitation, the art objects within the exhibitions are thus already remediated into photographs and then further remediated by the musicians into their performances. The manager as facilitator acts as a curator of the materials, which will be accessible to the musicians for further remediation.
Sensitive documentation and collaborative programming are additional layers within the facilitation of meeting spaces between the artworks and audiences, for those who can visit the exhibition on site, as well as those who are defined as distant viewers, as in the case of the Lena Stenberg exhibition, specifically the virtual tour. These facilitations aim to foster connections, dialogue, and understanding, embodying principles of love and care towards the artists, artworks, and audiences involved.
The development of educational tasks to create the flags of identity for the children at Karasjok school was also an important part of facilitation. Children experienced Stenberg’s exhibition and applied the knowledge gained during the guided tour as a stimulus for their creative outcome – the flags. The facilitator here was an educator and art historian with several decades of experience working in art and educational institutions with young people and children.
Remediation
Remediation here is understood as the means of translating the same or a similar theme between artistic media. Interpretations by the musicians, who have seen the artworks in the photographs, are a form of remediation. Additionally, how Nustad transforms Sámi duodji items into glass sculptures and installations can be an interesting example, in which shapes, traditionally carved from wood, are explored through glass. Remediation can be interpreted as care and love for the artistic narrative. The story is retold in a new way through the use of new media, allowing it to reach even broader interests among the exhibition viewers.
Love
Love as care is expressed when facilitating meetings between the artists, artworks, and viewers through careful re-narration of the ideas behind the artwork and the stories conveyed through visual means. In the cases of all the artists involved, these narratives often touch on very personal stories of the artists’ families and their lives in Sápmi.
The exhibitions are documented through video walks or virtual tours, serving as gestures of love towards distant viewers. Love is manifested in thoughtfulness towards these distant spectators, as well as in emphasising the importance of narrative within the artworks and exhibitions.
Narrative remediation as love
The narrative of the visual artworks, such as those within Ansgar Ole Olsen’s sculptures, is remediated into music, showcasing care and respect for the artist’s work and spotlighting the stories told within the artworks for the audiences. Similarly, in Stenberg’s exhibition, the performing musicians spotlight the theme of the exhibition – borders – by performing yoik specifically bound to the theme of borders and separation. Love in Nustad’s art is within his deep care for heritage and the re-narration of Sámi values and symbols through the medium of glass. This is also seen as a remediation of narrative, traditionally conveyed through the means of duodji, into the modality of expression applying glass as material.
Challenges in facilitation through love and care
Although it is always the intention of the curator and facilitator to meet the event’s requests and plans through the lens of the artist’s view about how the event should be, challenges still arise. Several examples will be provided here, without mentioning the artists’ names for ethical reasons.
The first example is of a performance artist who submitted her proposal to the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art two years ago without specifying a budget. The proposal was accepted by the Artistic Board members. After the acceptance, when the institution leader/curator/facilitator began planning the performance with the artist, it became clear that the costs were 75,000 NOK – much higher than the amount allocated in the centre’s annual budget for the annual programme’s live elements. The higher management of the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art emphasised the need to adhere to the budget, which is understandable and necessary in the art institution. The institution leader/curator/facilitator spent a year working on additional fundraising; however, after submitting around five applications to various funding institutions, she received rejections from all of them. Two years have passed since the proposal was accepted by the art centre, and the situation is restrictive for the institution leader/curator/facilitator, who finds herself in the position of being “in-between”, unable to realise the project with the artist. The gesture of love and care from the institution leader/curator/facilitator was to invite this artist to a small-scale event, to meet her personally, and to introduce her to the audience. Nevertheless, the performance she submitted two years ago is still not realised, with an unknown timeline for when it might be realised.
The second example is more recent. One year before her exhibition, an artist explicitly said that she wanted the art centre to produce a catalogue for the exhibition. The annual budget lacked the available funds to cover the costs of a full-format catalogue. Nevertheless, the institution leader/curator/facilitator told the artist that she would try to fundraise for it. She submitted two applications to funding institutions that specifically supported books and catalogues but received rejections from both. When it became clear that there was no more time to apply for additional funding, she informed the artist that it would be impossible to produce the catalogue.
Both examples illustrate the in-betweenness of the role of institution leader/curator/facilitator. Uncertainties and challenges often occur in the planning process with the artists, making it impossible to plan everything through to the end – or, as in the first case, to even plan the event at all. This in-betweenness of the role is not empowering; instead, it limits love and care and stands in the way of many projects that could have happened. What might the solution be, as these examples show that even efforts to secure additional funding to support artists’ plans do not necessarily succeed? Can the institution leader/curator/facilitator move beyond this in-between role, or is this simply the place from which they must navigate?
Preparing venues for public events
When preparing for public events such as exhibition openings or performances within the exhibition arrangements, careful consideration is given to the presentation room setup, along with refreshments, as a thoughtful and caring gesture to engage the audience. The café-like arrangement of the area, where people could sit down and have discussions, was an important aspect of the planning process. This reflects love as a performative and embodied gesture of care (Vincent, 2016). The design and moderation of events prioritise a sense of community and shared experience, contributing to the interconnected Indigenous identities. This is particularly evident in the case of the extension of the exhibition space into the installation created by the curators, where people could gather and participate in embroidery sessions, reflecting together on their art experiences at the “What Are You Alone” exhibition.
Findings
1. The contributors, despite different roles (managers, artists, educators), are identified as facilitators, and the study explores facilitation as a meeting point with the artist live or a meeting point with the artworks and narratives. The innovative take on facilitation is in the broad sense of this term, where facilitation is approached in the event planning, live action, or pedagogical process. The keyword within facilitation is love, as the empathic outreach and as the gesture of care.
2. The concept of love, comprising care, compassion, and empathy, is explored as an ethical engagement in the context of Indigenous art facilitation, but also as the core of the creative process.
3. The facilitated performance, can intertwine personal experiences and identities, creating meaningful connections. Love towards the narrative within the artwork is performed through the remediation of such a narrative – for example, into music.
4. Love and care can be limited by the “in-betweenness” of the role of the institution leader/curator/facilitator.
Conclusion
Through the four cases of exhibitions at the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art, the concept of love emerges as a central theme, containing care, compassion, and empathy. The re-narration of artistic themes through different media can bring viewers closer to the artwork. For example, when multiple methods are used to convey the same story – such as through sculpture and music – the narrative becomes multisensory for the spectator. As an empathic outreach and a gesture of care, love is at the core of communicating with audiences and is connected with remediation. The remediation of Sámi duodji into glass, as seen in the exhibition by Geir Nustad, is a way for the artist to express love and care for Sámi heritage. This study contributes to an understanding of how facilitation infused with love can deepen dialogues within Indigenous art and Indigenous communities.
Over the last two years, the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art has explored an innovative, dialogue-based method of curating, transforming the institution into a home-like environment where artists and audiences can feel welcome. This includes collective meal sessions and informal meetings between artists and the audience. Curatorial work and exhibition planning are always collaborative decisions, with artworks placed in the venue through close dialogue with the artists. Artists play a significant role in event planning and implementation, and their in-person presence during the installation period and exhibition openings is crucial, allowing valuable conversations to take place. Artists are always assisted by two technicians. In any case, budget limitations sometimes do not allow the implementation of the projects exactly as envisioned by the artists.
This transformation of the art institution into a space for community and conversation is of great value. The Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art is not just an art centre but a meeting space for both artists and audiences.
Acknowledgement
Marija Griniuk received funding from the Research Council of Lithuania (LMTLT), agreement No S-PD-24-49, for this research.
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Images at the start
Marija Griniuk performing at the Performance Studies in Sapmi 2024 festival at the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art. Photo Albinas Liutkus.
Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art. Photo Marija Griniuk.
Image 2. The “What Are You Alone” exhibition. The sculpture at the front is by Aage Gaup. Photo by Tor Egil Rasmussen.
Image 6, 7. Anna Tunold performing at Ansgar Ole Olsen’s exhibition. Photo by Marija Griniuk for SDG.
