The Sámi National Theatre, Beaivváš, and the Sámi High School and Reindeer Husbandry School moved into their new building, Čoarvemátta, in the spring of 2024. The school is one of two state-financed Sámi high schools in Norway, and the theatre, which was established in the wake of the conflict over the development of the Alta-Kautokeino river basin, received national theatre status in 1993. A new Sámi cultural and educational building is of great significance, not only for Kautokeino but for the whole of Sápmi and for Norway as a cultural nation. The building gets its name, Čoarvemátta, from the innermost part of the reindeer antler, known as the burr. This is the part of the antler which symbolises strength and represents how two elements can be bonded into one.

The Sámi National Theatre, Beaivváš, presents stories and theatre performances from a Sámi world perspective, while the Sámi High School and Reindeer Husbandry School provides tuition in traditional knowledge, culture and language to Sámi youth. The overarching curatorial approach for the art project is based on two concepts or values that are both fundamental and deeply rooted in Sámi cultural understanding: vuoiŋŋalašvuohta, Sámi spirituality, and árbemáhttu, traditional knowledge. Both the school and the theatre base their activities on these concepts.

But what do these concepts actually involve in contemporary Sápmi and for Sámi artists? Curator Monica Milch Gebhardt, co-curator Anniina Turunen, and Joar Nango, co-curator and Sámi advisor, have placed particular emphasis on the representation of different geographical areas within Sápmi and selected artists that work with diverse approaches to traditional knowledge and spirituality. Further objectives of the curatorial work, moreover, were for the art to help strengthen Sámi identity and to demonstrate the range and boundary-breaking aspects of Sámi art, from traditional duodji (Sámi handicrafts) to conceptual contemporary art.

Artists and duojars (craftspeople)

Following a closed competition, Máret Ánne Sara (b. 1983, lives and works in Kautokeino) was invited to execute the artistic design for the theatre’s stage backdrop. Her expression, approach and choice of materials is deeply rooted in personal history and political engagement. Her work, Gapmu, with its wealth of mythological references and use of visually striking images goes straight to the heart of inherited Sámi knowledge and the Sámi world perspective.

One of Sápmi’s highest acclaimed contemporary artists, Britta Marakatt-Labba (b. 1951, lives and works in Idivuoma, Sweden), was assigned the artistic design for one of the walls in the school’s common area. Here, she has executed a large embroidery, Min Duoddarat / Our plains, a vertical piece that departs from her usual horizontal format. The piece includes direct references to the theatre’s history.

Four younger duojars were invited to create works based on their interpretations of traditional knowledge and Sámi spirituality: Elle Valkeapää (b. 1979, lives and works in Enare, Finland), Fredrik Prost (b.1980, lives and works in Kiruna, Sweden), Rámavuol Elle Bigge (1983, Evenskjær) in collaboration with Merethe Kuhmunen (b. 1990, lives and works in Suijavárri/Karesuando, Sweden), and Laila Mari Brandsfjell (b. 1986, lives and works in Brekken).

The building’s sweeping entry gave Elle Valkeapää the idea for her installation Šiella. The work aims to protect the building in the same way as an amulet hung over a child’s gietka, or cradle. Šiella is made from hide, metal, glass and personally gathered birch roots, which are characteristic of her work.

In the foyer, Fredrik Post relates and commemorates Sámi roots by means of three sculptures suspended from the ceiling. The works illustrate the three Sámi creation narratives about the bear, the sun’s daughter and the reindeer buck, and are constructed from materials sourced in Prost’s home town in Northern Sweden.

Rámavuol Elle Bigge, in collaboration with Merethe Kuhmunen, have made violence and abuse the theme of their work. Aiming to create transparency about the topic and empower young people, the artists create brightly coloured vulvae from wool and Wadmal. Their work is placed above the entrance to the library on the 1st floor.

Laila Mari Brandsfjell is making a textile work for the ceiling of the foyer, inspired by rákkas, the traditional sleeping tent curtain. This work is to be completed in 2025.

Further artworks by two of Sápmi’s best-known and influential artists, Aage Gaup (1943 –2021) and Iver Jåks (1932–2007), have been moved from the old school premises into the new building. The two works are deeply rooted in Sámi culture and mythology in terms of both content and execution. Gaup’s sculpture Girdinoaiddi loddi/ Bird of the Flying Shaman (1988) is made of wood and placed in the open air. Jåks designed the monumental brass relief Beaivi ja biegga / Sun and Wind (completed 1996), which hung at the centre of the old school, the craftwork having been executed by craftsman and silversmith Peter Rust in Kautokeino. Both works were originally created specifically for the Sámi High School and Reindeer Husbandry School.