EXHIBITION: Gollegiisá — Skattekiste — Treasure Chest
50 years of collecting Sami Art.
This year marks 50 years of De Samiske Samlinger/ Sámi vuorka davvirat/ RiddoDuottar Museat.
THE JUBILEE IN 2022
The museum opened in 1972 and has been of great importance locally but also regionally and nationally. In 2022, the museum is celebrating its first 50 years. Such an anniversary is a time for retrospection but also an opportunity to look into the future. From its inception in 1972, collecting art has been part of the purchasing policy of the museum and on entering the museum visitors always meet permanent artworks by Iver Jåks. This exhibition also includes a work by Jåks, acquired in 1972 by SVD.
The Sami Center for Contemporary Art also wishes to mark the 50th anniversary. Our two institutions have close ties, both academically and regarding art policy. We are working for the same objectives, namely to strengthen the display and dissemination of Sami art and culture. We have a common goal: that the art collection of the RDM/Sami Art Collection shall have a permanent gallery in a new Sami art museum. The RDM/Sami Art Collection consists of works owned by SVD, the Sami Artists Union SDS (Arts from the Arctic), transfers from the Sami Arts Council, purchases with funds from the Norwegian Arts Council and artwork acquired through the Sami Parliament’s procurement scheme. Since its inception in 1979, the Sami Artist Union SDS has worked to establish a permanent and artistically anchored procurement scheme. This permanent procurement scheme is funded by the Sami Parliament and the large and valuable art collection will be part of a future Sami art museum.
THE SUMMER EXHIBITION IN 2022
For this year’s summer exhibition, the Sami Centre for Contemporary Art invites the public to a magnificent anniversary exhibition in collaboration with RDM/SVD and RDM/Sami Art Collection. The art on display includes Sami visual artists from different generations and artistic genres. In making this selection curators Hilde Skancke Pedersen and Kristoffer Dolmen wish to emphasise artwork that displays diversity. The exhibition, which also has thematic divisions, shows what an incredible art collection there is in public ownership. It shows works by both living and dead artists, from the younger to the older guard. As so often in the context of Sami art, there is a good balance between the works of female and male artists in this exhibition. Because the art collection is so extensive, this exhibition focuses only on visual art. The title of the exhibition is taken from one of the exhibited works, Gollegiisá by Karasjok woman Inga Nordsletta Pedersen.
This exhibition marks an anniversary but also points to the future by showing what a basic exhibition in the future Sami art museum may look like. With the exhibition Gollegiisá-Skattekiste-Treasure Chest we pay tribute to the jubilant De Samiske Samlinger/Sámi vuorka davvirat/ RiddoDuottar Museat and also highlight the diversity and strength of the pan-Sami art.
Artists represented in the exhibition:
Matti Aiko, Eva Aira, Jon Ole Andersen, Viktoria Andersson, Inger Blix Kvammen,
Thomas Colbengtson, Daban Da (Rognli/Forsøget), Eva Delving-Wiklund, Monica Edmondson, Folke Fjällström, Asbjørn Forsøget, Aage Gaup, Bente Geving, Hanne Grieg Hermansen, Gerd Grimsø, Josef Halse, Marja Helander, Geir Tore Holm, Andreas Holtung, Rose-Marie Huuva, Arnold Johansen, Harry Johansen, Lars Johansson-Nutti, Annelise Josefsen, Aslaug Juliussen, Per Isak Juuso, Iver Jåks, Oddmund Kristiansen, Gerd Lorås, Johanne Losoa Larsson, Trygve Lund Guttormsen, Britta Marakatt Labba, Hans Ragnar Mathisen, Unni Myrseth, Mathis Nango, Nils Nilsson Skum, Inga Nordsletta Pedersen, Elly Mathilde Novvale, Synnøve Persen, Outi Pieski, Lars Pirak, Gjert Rognli, Alf Magne Salo, Maret Anne Sara, Andreas Sarri, Iria Ciekca Schmidt, Hege Siri, Odd Sivertsen, Lena Stenberg, Anders Sunna, Ingunn Utsi og Nils Aslak Valkeapää.
OPENING
The exhibition opens on Saturday 28 May at 18.00. The exhibition also marks the departure of director Kristoffer Dolmen, his four-year term ending this summer.
