SAAR is a joint Nordic project supporting doctoral artistic research practice facilitated by partner countries Finland, Sweden and Norway. It provides a stimulating intellectual environment and a supportive setting where doctoral artist-researchers from all fields collaborate, present their ongoing artistic research, and receive feedback from peers and tutors from the partner network.
The thematic focus of SAAR 2025 is on ways of knowing and processes of knowledge-making in relation to a place. Hence, while inspired by previous editions of SAAR, the schedule is significantly influenced by the site of Kiruna (Northern Sámi: Giron; Finnish: Kiiruna; Meänkieli: Kieruna) and its surroundings. During the week we will explore with different ways of engaging, articulating and experiencing place. This will be done through sharing sessions in smaller groups in which the research projects of participating doctoral researchers are discussed, as well as through excursions and encounters with different practices of knowledging.
All doctoral researchers will be allocated time to share their research in smaller groups. Information on how to prepare as well as the constitution of the groups can be found below the schedule.
Please be aware that the program might be slightly edited and refined. Some precisions (such as which premises will be used by different groups) will also be added.
The arriving and departure time will not change. All participants are expected to attend the whole week.
NB! The short presentations during the introduction marathon are max 10 min including set-up.
- Where: The site for SAAR 2025 is Kiruna, a city at the intersection of different ways of knowing. Accommodation will be at Malmfältens Folkhögskola, Sweden's northernmost folk high school, a folk education centre in Sápmi/Barents region.
- When: 17–22 August (Start 14.00 August 17th End 12.30 August 22nd)
- Arrival to Kiruna: The summer academy begins at Kin Museum of Contemporary Art (Kin) August 17th at 14h, please join us there directly. At arrival at Kin, participants can get keys to lockers at the reception, bigger bags can be stored in a room by the reception. If you arrive earlier, you are very welcome to pass by Malmfältens Folkhögskola to check into your room.
- Departure from Kiruna: The summer academy ends at Lundbohmsgården August 22nd at 12.30. Lunch is served at 11.30 and transportation is organised back to Malmfältens Folkhögskola at 13h.
Sunday, August 17 – Arrival & Introductions
Location: Konstverkstan, floor 1, Kin Museum of Contemporary Art (Kin), Stadshustorget 1, 981 30 Kiruna
14.00 Welcome coffee @ Konstverkstan, floor 1
14.30–15.30
- Welcome by Petra Bauer and Hanna Husberg.
- Maria Lind introduces Kin Museum of Contemporary Art (Kin).
- Matts Leiderstam presents his exhibition @ floor 2.
16.00–19.30 Introduction marathon by 18 doctoral researchers (max 10 min per person incl. set-up)
20.00 Joint pizza dinner @ Kin’s offices, floor 4
21.15 Taxi from Kin to Malmfältens Folkhögskola
Monday, August 18 – Kiruna and its rivers
Locations: Old Kiruna (by foot) / Excursion to Loussavaara (transportation by taxi) / Kin Museum of Contemporary Art – Kin (return to Malmfältens Folkhögskola by foot/public transport)
07.00 Breakfast @ Ann’s, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
08.30 Walk to old town, Adolf Hedinsvägen 35
09.00–10.00 Tour of old Kiruna with Agneta Andersson
10.30–14.30 Excursion to Loussavaara with Åsa Andersson Martti and Janne Sirniö, incl. lunch. Taxis leave from old town, Arent Grapegatan parkering @ 10.10, pick up from Ednavaara, parking lot @ 14.30 to Kin
15.00 Visit of exhibitions @ Kin, floor 2
16.00–19.30 Presentations by two doctoral researchers in small groups (90 min/presentation) + 30 min break
- Group 1 @ location at Kin/Stadshuset
- Group 2 @ location at Kin/Stadshuset
- Group 3 @ location at Kin/Stadshuset
- Group 4 @ location at Kin/Stadshuset
20.00 Dinner @ Ann’s, Malmfältens Folkhögskola alternatively in new town at own expense.
Tuesday, August 19 – The relocation of Kiruna church
Locations: Malmfältens Folkhögskola / old Kiruna (by foot)
07.00 Breakfast @ Ann’s, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
09.00–12.30 Presentations by two doctoral researchers in small groups (90 min/presentation) + 30 min break
- Group 1 @ location at Malmfältens Folkhögskola
- Group 2 @ Styrelserummet, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
- Group 3 @ Polstjärnan, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
- Group 4 @ location at Malmfältens Folkhögskola
12.30 Lunch @ Ann’s, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
13.00 Follow the relocation of Kiruna church
19.00-20.00 Reflections on the first two days within the smaller groups (self-organised by the groups @ Malmfältens Folkhögskola or surrounding)
20.00 Dinner @ Ann’s, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
Wednesday, August 20 – Cosmologies & stories, remembering and memories
Locations: Samegården Sámi Museum, Brytaregatan 14, 981 43 Kiruna (arrival by foot).
Swedish Institute of Space Physics & Jukkasjärvi church and living history museum (transportation by bus)
07.00 Breakfast @ Ann’s, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
08.30 Walk to Samegården Sámi Museum
09.00–10.00 Visit of Samegården Sámi Museum with Gunnar Östman
10.00 Pick up by Hörvalls bus from Samegården Sámi Museum
10.30–12.30 Visit of the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) including: general introduction about IRF by Annelie Klint Nilsson, Communications Officer, IRF and the Moon – presentation by Thomas Maynadie, PhD student, IRF and Mercury – presentation by Hayley Williamson, Scientist, Guided tour of IRF (in two groups)
12.45–15.00 Lunch @ Nutti Sámi Siida, Visit of Jukkasjärvi church, Introduction to Tornedalian and Sámi heritage @ Jukkasjärvi hembygdsgård/living, history museum by Ida-Maria Svonni
15.00 Returning to Malmfältens Folkhögskola (transportation by bus)
16:00–17:30 Presentations by a doctoral researcher in small groups (90 min/presentation)
- Group 2 @ Styrelserummet, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
- Group 3 @ Polstjärnan, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
- Groups 1 & 4 prepare dinner together
18:00 Jointly cooked dinner with invited guests @ Lavvo, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
Thursday, August 21 – The mine & the home area
Locations: Kiruna mine / Ofelas, Puoltsa (transportation by bus) / Pub Eden, Föraregatan, 981 39 Kiruna (arrival by foot)
07.00 Breakfast @ Ann’s, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
08.00–11.00 Visit to Kiruna mine. Pick up by LKAB bus from Malmfältens Folkhögskola at 8.00 return ca 11.10
11.30 Lunch @ Ann’s, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
12.20 Pick up by Hörvalls bus from Malmfältens Folkhögskola
13.00–17.00 Excursion in the fields with Kerstin Nilsson and Mats Blind-Berg @ Ofelaš, Puoltsa
17.00 Returning to Malmfältens Folkhögskola (transportation by bus)
18.00–19.00 Reflections and preparations for Friday’s sharing session within the smaller groups (self-organised by the groups)
20.00 Joint dinner @ Pub Eden (arrival by foot)
Friday, August 22 – Reflection & conclusion
Locations: Hjalmar Lundbohmsgården, Lotten Erikssons gata 34, 981 40 Kiruna (arrival by taxi)
07.00 Breakfast @ Ann’s, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
08.30 Pick up by taxi from Malmfältens Folkhögskola
09.00–11.30 Sharing ways of knowing, joint reflection and summary of the week
11.30 Lunch
13.00 Transportation back to Malmfältens Folkhögskola (alternatively ca 40 min by foot)
Preparations and expectations
This summer academy is organised in Kiruna and its surroundings, with Malmfältens Folkhögskola as a base. We are far away from our home institutional setting and do not have technicians at our disposal. We are however excited about the possibilities and productive challenges that this setting presents. Many of the sessions will take place outdoors. Please take proper outdoor clothing with you, including rain and wind proof jackets and shoes for walking in nature. Please also bring mosquito repellent and a mosquito hat.
Familiarize yourselves with the bios and research abstracts of peers
Please spend some time in advance looking at the bios and research abstracts shared in the Research Catalogue (RC) exposition. This is important for being able to enter deeper and meaningful conversations and discussions on site.
Introduction marathon: sharing your project/research interest
Please be prepared to share your project/research interest in one way or another, but in the time frame of ten minutes including any needed set-up. This will be a plenary session on the first day of the summer academy. You do not need to explain your whole project, you may instead give us a glimpse of the project's identity, offer us to sense it, or simply straight forward talk about your research interest. We will organize this sharing at Kin Museum of Contemporary Art (Kin) as a marathon with very basic equipment. If you have material to share on a screen and/or speakers please send to Petra and Hanna by August 12th.
Sharing sessions in smaller groups: acknowledging one’s epistemological framework
All doctoral researchers will be allocated time to share their research and receive feedback in smaller groups. Each researcher has 30 minutes for presenting in a format they have chosen but in relation to one thought, reflection or sentence which emerged from the Reading with Sápmi-seminar series and resonated particularly with them. An example from Gunvor Guttorm’s seminar is: “How are you invited into a place?” insisting the follow-up questions “What is an invitation? What does the invitation allow?” This thought is used as a prompt or filter through which the researcher considers their research project as site and process for exploring specific questions and/or particular research areas. The prompt can be used to identify specific practices of knowledge-making within the doctoral project and to reflect on the epistemological framework or ways of knowing the research endeavor highlights and legitimizes. Following a 10-minute break, 40 minutes are used for a collegial discussion about the shared materials. Each group decides how they structure the discussion. To conclude 10 minutes are used for all participants to write a personal letter to the presenter.
The sharing sessions will take place at Malmfältens Folkhögskola and Kin with limited technical resources. Participants are encouraged to think of sharing methods and formats beyond traditional PowerPoint presentations.
Visits and excursions
During the week we will visit the following sites, and meet local communities and individuals:
- Kin Museum of Contemporary Art with Maria Lind, Matts Leiderstam, and the Kin staff
- Malmfältens Folkhögskola with Maria Hedhult and other staff
- Ann’s for breakfast, lunches, dinners
- Kiruna old town with Agneta Andersson
- Loussavaara with Åsa Andersson Martti and Janne Sirniö
- Samegården Sámi Museum with Gunnar Östman
- Swedish Institute of Space Physics with Annelie Klint Nilsson, Thomas Maynadie, Hayley Williamson
- Nutti Sámi Siida for lunch
- Jukkasjärvi living history museum (hembygdsgård) and church with Ida-Maria Svonni
- Kiruna Mine with LKAB
- The home area (váimmusguovlu or the place where people make their living) at Ofelaš (Ofelaš is Sami and means “the one who shows the way”) with Kerstin Nilsson and Mats Blind-Berg
- Pub Eden for dinner
- Hjalmar Lundbohmsgården for final reflections and lunch
- And a few more guests joining the jointly cooked dinner @Lavvo, Malmfältens Folkhögskola
Sharing at the end of the week
We will end the week with a plenary session where the four groups share in one way or another thoughts and experiences of how the week has allowed them (or not) to engage with their own research and the research of peers through the different ways and practices of knowing and knowledging encountered, through prompts from the Reading with Sápmi-seminars, through the situatedness and the location-based perspective of the summer academy, and through interacting with the surrounding in non-verbal ways.
The sharing session is held at Hjalmar Lundbohmsgården, the house where the first manager of the mining company in Kiruna lived. We encourage the groups to go beyond PowerPoint presentations and experiment with the format of sharing. There are two scheduled reflective sessions in the smaller working groups which can be used for this purpose.
Other sessions
Proposed activities organically organised by participants @ Malmfältens Folkhögskola and surroundings during the week:
- Collective morning stretch / workout proposed by Bendik Giske
- Mobility-stretching routine in the morning by Benjamin Pohlig
- Deep listening session using some Oliveros scores by Livia Schweizer
- Chaga tea and sharing in a circle by Susanne Ewerlöf
Groups
Group 1
Petra Bauer / Stockholm University of the Arts
Taru Elfving / Curator & writer, Artistic director; CAA Contemporary Art Archipelago
Sanskriti Chattopadhyay / The Film, Photography and Literary Composition Unit, HDK-Valand
Bendik Giske / Norwegian Academy of Music, NordART
Vera Boitcova / Performing Arts Research Centre, Theatre Academy, Uniarts Helsinki
Benjamin Pohlig / Oslo National Academy of the Arts, Academy of Dance
Group 2
Linda Lien / Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills (HK-dir)
Klara Björk / HDK-Valand - Academy of Art and Design
Anna Heymowska / Performing Arts, Stockholm University of the Arts
Iida-Vilhelmiina Sinivalo / DocMus Doctoral program, Sibelius Academy, Uniarts Helsinki
Alejandra Vera Monge / Department of Design, Artistic Research Doctoral School, Aalto University
Skade Marie Henriksen Svennevig / University of Bergen, The Art Academy – Department of Contemporary Art
Katherine Alison Butcher / NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim Academy of Fine Art
Group 3
Maarit Mäkelä / Professor in Practice-led Design Research Head of EMPIRICA Research Group and AREA Doctoral School, Aalto University
Siri Hermansen / Independent artist
Paola Torres Nuñez Del Prado / Film & Media, Stockholm University of the Arts
Andreas Kühne / UiT The Arctic University of Norway, Academy of Music
Camilla Vatne Barratt-Due / Norwegian Academy of Music, Composition, Music Theory and Music Technology Department
Robel Temesgen Bizuayeh / Oslo National Academy of the Arts, The Academy of Fine Art
Katrin Enni / Music Technology, Sibelius Academy, Uniarts Helsinki
Group 4
Hanna Husberg / Stockholm University of the Arts
Maryam Bagheri Nesami / Professor, Doctoral education, Theatre Academy, Uniarts Helsinki
Anne Haaning / Independent artist
Susanne Ewerlöf / The Film, Photography and Literary Composition Unit, HDK-Valand
Mohamed A. Gawad / NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim Academy of Fine Art
Livia Schweizer / MuTri Doctoral program, Sibelius Academy, Uniarts Helsinki
Qiong Zhang / Performing Arts Research Centre, Theatre Academy, Uniarts Helsinki
