Enacting Colonised Space : Katarina Pirak Sikku and Anders Sunna

• Published in: Nordisk Museologi
• Main Author: Heith, Anne
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Umeå universitet, Institutionen för kultur- och medievetenskaper 2015
• Subjects: Sámi art; European Cultural Capital 2014; Katarina Pirak Sikku; Anders Sunna; race biology; Critical museology; Bildmuseet; Eight Sami Artists; Nammaláhpán; Area Infected; Swedish colonialism; Sámi counter narratives; samisk konst; kulturhuvudstadsåret 2014; samisk aktivism; rasbiologi; Cultural Studies; Kulturstudier; Norway; sami; samisk
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-113592; https://doi.org/10.5617/NM.3048

During 2014 the Swedish city of Umeå was a European Capital of Culture, with the signature Umeå2014. In Umeå’s application there was a strong focus upon the Sámi and the fact that Umeå is situated in Sápmi. Elements from Sámi culture were used in the programme and in the marketing of Umeå as a cultural capital. Bildmuseet, a museum for contemporary visual art and a part of Umeå University, was one of the institutions that contributed to the programme by commissioning works for solo exhibitions from eight artists from Sweden, Norway and Finland. The exhibitions were shown in a series called Eight Sami Artists. !e article explores the function and implication of Sámi elements in Umeå2014 with a specific focus on two of the exhibitions shown at Bildmuseet: Katarina Pirak Sikku’s Nammaláhpán and Anders Sunna’s Area Infected. The role of the museum for problematising colonising narratives, as well as the artists’ use of emotions in the production of Sámi counter narratives are themes explored. Forskning om kulturhuvudstadsåret i Umeå 2014