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

12.3.2018 13:45

The exhibition in Gallery Kopio presents Doctoral student Francis Joy's academic dissertation on Saami Shamanism, Cosmology and Art as Systems of Embedded Knowledge, as well as artistic artifacts related to research work.

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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