Framing Decolonisation Through Sámi Artivism and Research

Guest Lecture by Moa Sandström (Umeå University, Sweden).

The research project "The Art of Nordic Colonialism: Writing Transcultural Art Histories" (Carlsberg Foundation, 2019-2022) based at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies, KU.

In this guest lecture, Moa Sandström (Umeå University, Sweden) will be presenting her recently defended doctoral thesis "Decolonising Artivism in Contemporary Sápmi" (2020). The dissertation presents a compilation of research undertaken with four contemporary Sámi artists/artivist between 2014-2017: artivist Jenni Laiti (including Suohpanterror), poet Timimie Märak, painter/street artist Anders Sunna and joiker Jörgen Stenberg. The PhD project had a fairly loose framing and an open, exploratory approach, where the issues to be investigated and more deeply discussed would unfold throughout time and events. Eventually, this resulted in three major themes for the thesis: artistic articulations of colonialism in the Swedish-Sámi relationship; the making of a decolonising resistance movement through artivism, and; how the fictional could make the factual. In this lecture, Sandström will give an overview of the research findings, and elaborate on how she perceives that discourse around “the Sámi” and decolonial terminology has changed in Sweden as a possible result of Sámi artivism during the past decade. Furthermore, Sandström also seeks to reflect upon the role of the researcher in projects with decolonising approaches and, as such, invite open the audience to take part in this discussion on the politics of research from their point of reference.

Moa Sandström is a Doctor in Sámi Dutkan/Sámi Studies. In the autumn of 2020, she defended her thesis "Dekoloniseringskonst. Artivism in 2010-talets Sápmi" [Decolonising Artivism in Contemporary Sápmi] (Umeå University, Sweden). Her research interests revolve around power dynamics, cultural currents, and how art may illuminate realities beyond our present imagination. As such, she is keenly working with art-based practises that envision life beyond climate disaster and systemic oppression.