Early Sámi visual artists - Western fine art meets Sámi culture

Johan Turi (1854–1936), Nils Nilsson Skum (1872–1951) and John Savio (1902–1938) were among the first Sámi visual artists. The production of their art work occurred between the 1910s and the early 1950s. Sámi aesthetics had its basis in folklore, i.e., handicraft or duodji, which did not follow the principle of art for art’s sake but combined beauty and practicality. Art was part of community life. Not until the 1970s was the word daidda, which is Finnish in origin and which means “art”, adopted into the Sámi language. Turi and Skum became famous through their books. They drew and wrote in order to pass the traditional knowledge of their people on to succeeding generations. They also wanted to introduce Sámi life and culture to non-Sámi people. One typical feature of their work is that they depicted Sáminess in a realistic way and sought to strengthen and preserve the Sámi identity through their art. In Turi and Skum’s work, both the documentation of community life and their own personal expression were strongly present and equally important; for this reason their pictures and texts have both practical and aesthetic dimensions. They did not attend school and were self-taught artists. The third pioneer of Sámi visual arts was John Savio, who, unlike the other two, attended secondary school and studied visual arts both independently and under the guidance of a mentor. He expressively combined Western ways of depiction with Sámi subjects. My article examines what made these early Sámi artists change over from Sámi handicraft, duodji, to Western visual arts, how they used Western pictorial conventions in dealing with their Sámi subjects, and the significance of their art for Sámi identity and culture. They lived and worked under cross pressure: the first few decades of the 20th century were characterized by racial theories that denigrated Sámi people, and the period following World War II was marked by demands for modernization and assimilation. Therefore, I also discuss how the conflicts of the time influenced the art of these three early Sámi artists

Johdanto

The Faculty of Arts and design at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi Finland, and the RegionalMuseum of Lapland decided together to organize an international conference Souvenirsin Motion: Cultural and Historical Perspectives on the Souvenir as a Research with the support ofthe Finnish Cultural Foundation. The reason for organizing the conference was the observationthat there is very few research on souvenirs in Finland. There are many souvenirs related toLapland tourism in the collection of the museums, especially in the Regional Museum of Lapland.The conference was originally supposed to be in Rovaniemi in April 2020, but due to thecovid-19 pandemic, it was postponed for one year. In the end, the conference was held onlinefrom 22 April to 23 April 2021. The conference was well received and there were about 120 participants.The conference included five keynote presentations and nine inspiring and versatileparallel sessions (c.f. Karikko in this issue). Souvenirs proved to be diverse and contain manymeanings. The articles of this publication are associated with the conference.The Faculty of Arts and Design at the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi Finland, and the Regional Museum of Lapland organized an international conference Souvenirs in Motion: Cultural and Historical Perspectives on the Souvenir as a Research Object with the support of the Finnish Cultural Foundation. The reason for organizing the conference was the observation that there is very few research on souvenirs in Finland. There are many souvenirs related to Lapland tourism in the collection of the museums, especially in the Regional Museum of Lapland. The conference was originally supposed to be in Rovaniemi in April 2020, but due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it was postponed for one year. In the end, the  conference was held online from 22 April to 23 April 2021. The conference was well received and there were about 120 participants. The conference included five keynote presentations and nine inspiring and versatile parallel sessions (c.f. Karikko in this issue). Souvenirs proved to be diverse and contain many meanings. The articles of this publication are associated with the conference