Brief
Sami exhibition in Kiruna showcases 100‑year‑old struggles
The Kin Museum of Contemporary Art in Kiruna opens a show featuring Johan Turi’s 1910 book and contemporary Sami art, coinciding with the Truth Commission report.
By Felo News Desk · Published
The Kin Museum of Contemporary Art in Kiruna has opened an exhibition titled On the Ugly and the Beautiful that brings the 1910 book Muitalus sámiid birra by Sami author Johan Turi back into public view after almost a century. The show, which runs alongside works by contemporary artists Outi Pieski and Johanna Minde, marks the handover of a long‑awaited Truth Commission report on state abuses against the Sami people. According to the museum’s director Maria Lind, Turi’s book was published in Sami and Danish before a Swedish translation appeared seven years later and was intended to expose the hardships of the Sami to the Swedish king and wider society. Turi, born in 1854 in Guovdageainnu (Kautokeino) in Norway, moved with his reindeer‑herding family to Kiruna as national borders tightened. The exhibition highlights how the problems faced by the Sami today – such as industrial encroachment, rare‑earth mining, wind energy projects and rising anti‑Sami rhetoric – echo those Turi documented a century ago. The Truth Commission report, which will be presented on Wednesday, is part of a broader trend of similar commissions in Norway and Finland. The exhibition underscores the ongoing struggle for Sami rights and the need for continued advocacy and protection of their traditional lands and culture.
Key facts
- The exhibition opens at the Kin Museum of Contemporary Art in Kiruna (theguardian.com)
- It features Johan Turi’s 1910 book <em>Muitalus sámiid birra</em> (theguardian.com)
- The show coincides with the handover of a Truth Commission report on Sami abuses (theguardian.com)
- Turi was born in 1854 in Guovdageainnu (Kautokeino) and later moved to Kiruna (theguardian.com)
- Contemporary Sami artists Outi Pieski and Johanna Minde are also featured (theguardian.com)
Sources
- [1] theguardian.com — originally reported as “‘The same struggles as 100 years ago’: exhibition highlights lives of Sami people in Sweden”
