Exhibition: Sámi Shamanism, Cosmology and Art as Systems of Embedded Knowledge

The exhibition looks at
the role and function of art as a mediator in Sámi cultural heritage, identity,
cultural memory and the transmission of culture from generation to generation. The
artistic themes of Joy’s dissertation research combine the practices and
customs, history, culture and religion of indigenous peoples of Norway, Sweden,
Finland and the Kola Peninsula. Previously, Sámi history has been mainly written by
people outside Sámi culture. At the same time, however, the Sámi themselves have
shifted their shamanistic and cosmological tradition from one generation to the
other: initially as the literary inheritance of ancestors and from medieval times to
the present, by means of art, by describing cultural practices and cultural
identity.

The exhibition brings together seven years of
research work, numerous Sámi interviews and visits to the Sámi sacred sites in
Norway, Sweden and Finland. By combining the old shamanic healing methods and
traditions and combining several different methods of research, Joy has sought to
address many of the issues of preserving the traditions and practices of the
Sámi.

The PhD dissertation of Saami Shamanism, Cosmology and
Art as Systems of Embedded Knowledge will be held at the Esko and Asko
Hall of the University of Lapland on Saturday 24 March at 12 noon. The exhibition
presents an insight into the photographic work, but is not evaluated as part of the
dissertation itself.

Francis Joy: Sámi Shamanism,
Cosmology and Art as Systems of Embedded Knowledge
13. – 28.3.2018,
Opening 12.3. at 18–19.30
Gallery Kopio, University of Lapland, F house,
1st floor (Yliopistonkatu 8, Rovaniemi)
Open: Mon-Fri at 8–20, Sat at
9–16

For more
information:
Francis Joy
francis.joy (at)
ulapland.fi