Opening April 15 at Scandinavia House, Arctic Highways — Unbounded Indigenous People brings together the artwork and handicrafts of 12 Indigenous artists from Sápmi, Canada and Alaska in an exhibition highlighting the thriving cultural and spiritual communities of the Arctic region. Curated by Indigenous artists Tomas Colbengtson, Gunvor Guttorm, Dan Jåma and Britta Marakatt-Labba, the exhibition includes their own works alongside those of artists Matti Aikio, Marja Helander, Laila Susanna Kuhmunen, Olof Marsja, Máret Ánne Sara, Sonya Kelliher-Combs, Maureen Gruben and Meryl McMaster.

As a special opening event on Saturday, April 15, join us for a performance and film screening. Greenlandic dancer Elisabeth Heilmann Blind & Sámi Yoiker Lars-Henrik Blind perform “UaaJeerneq – the Greenlandic Mask Dance,” followed by a screening of Historjá – Stitches For Sápmi (dir. Thomas Jackson), depicting artist Britta Marakatt-Labba’s battle for her culture against the threats of climate change, and panel Britta Marakatt-Labba, Thomas Jackson, Elisabeth Heilmann Blind and Tomas Colbengston. Learn more and register.

The exhibition includes a wide range of artworks and duodji Sámi handicrafts including Britta Marakatt-Labba’s narrative embroidery portraying motifs from Sámi culture and history and sculpture works by Máret Ánne Sara utilizing traditional objects such as the komsekula silver amulet (believed in Sámi culture to have protective powers).

Other works include recent photographs of Marja Helander emphasizing the dependence between humans and nature through northern landscapes and portraits; and Sonya Kelliher-Combs’s personal mixed-media visual art focusing on the changing North and our relationship to nature and each other.

The exhibition’s opening weekend will include a performance by Greenlandic dancer Elisabeth Heilmann Blind and Sámi Yoiker Lars Henrik Blind, plus a screening and film Q&A with artist Britta Marakatt-Labba on the film Historjá – Stitches For Sápmi, which explores the Sámi battle against threats of climate change, followed by a panel discussion with Britta Marakatt-Labba, Thomas Jackson and Elisabeth Heilmann Blind. Coordinated alongside the UN Permanent Forum for Indigenous Issues 2023 from April 17-28, the opening weekend will be followed by a film event “Climate Actions — Future Changes” at Scandinavia House on April 21 & 22. Generous support for this exhibition has been received from Nordea, the Inger G. & William B. Ginsberg Support Fund, the Bonnier Family Fund for Contemporary Art and the Barbro Osher Pro Suecia Foundation. Additional support has been received from the Consul General of Sweden in New York.