Spirits

In this camera-less video work, digitally animated northern lights intertwine with a luohti — a Northern Sámi joik — performed by Sámi musician Ánnámáret. The joik tells of homeless, wandering spirits. The piece is dedicated to the memory of the Sámi whose remains were exhumed from cemeteries across Sápmi around 100–150 years ago in the name of racist scientific research. Some of these remains were only recently reburied, in 2022, in the regions of Inari, Utsjoki, and Nellim.

The animation’s imagery — landscapes that alternately dissolve and clarify — is created by digitally manipulating drawings made in 1839 by French illustrator Louis Bévalet, who documented the northern lights during an expedition to the Alta region. His illustrations now find new life in this work.

Ánnámáret’s joik is accompanied by Ilkka Heinonen on the jouhikko (a traditional bowed lyre) and Turkka Inkilä’s electronic music. The work is part of a long-term collaboration by a four-member artistic team, which has produced a series of video pieces, two music albums, and performs together at concerts and festivals.