The Nordic Pavilion Becomes the First Sámi Pavilion
For the first time, only Sámi artists will be presented in a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale, and for the first time, the Sámi will be recognised as a nation in a pavilion that bears their name.
Artists Máret Ánne Sara, Anders Sunna and Pauliina Feodoroff will represent Sápmi at the 2022 Venice Biennale.
The Sámi artists Máret Ánne Sara, Anders Sunna and Pauliina Feodoroff will represent Sápmi at the 2022 Venice Biennale, where they will transform the Nordic pavilion into a Sámi pavilion. This was revealed at a press conference streamed by the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA) from the Sámi Parliament in Karasjok this Wednesday. In a press release, OCA describes the Sámi participation as a historic moment: “For the first time, only Sámi artists will be presented in a national pavilion at the Venice Biennale, and for the first time, the Sámi will be recognised as a nation in a pavilion that bears their name.”
Sápmi is the territory spanning Finland, Norway, Russia, and Sweden traditionally inhabited by the Sámi, an Indigenous People. Sunna, Feodoroff, and Sara all come from different part of the region. Hailing from Kieksiisvaara in the Swedish part of Sápmi, Anders Sunna works with painting, graffiti, and sculpture. He creates politically-charged images that problematise the abuse of power, the exploitation of land and natural resources, and racist persecution of the Sámi people.
Postponed one year due to the pandemic, the 59th Venice Biennale is scheduled to open to the public on 23 April 2022 and run until 27 November.
