Three videos by Marja Helander, Dolastallat – To Have a Campfire (2016), Eatnanvuloš lottit – Birds in the Earth (2018), and Suodji – Shelter (2020, in featured image) – are included in the outdoors exhibition Luminocity, held in Kamloops, the Province of British Columbia, Canada from October 14–21 2023. The exhibition is curated by Emily Dundas Oke and Charo Neville and organised by Kamloops Art Gallery.

Dolastallat – To Have a Campfire is an experimental short film about a Sámi woman going to the mountains in Kola Peninsula, and having a modern campfire with an unexpected creature. The vast landscape bears hints of Arctic mining industry and there is also a reference to the old Sámi myth.

Birds in the Earth is a short film based on dance. The main characters are two young Sámi ballet students; Birit and Katja Haarla. The movie tells a bit melancholic story through their dance performances. At the same time it examines the deeper questions of the ownership of Sámi land.

Shelter (Suodji) is an adaptation of an old story from Utsjoki, Sápmi, to the present. It is a legend of the director’s relative, Ovllá-Ivvár Helander, and about what he did during the Spanish flu epidemic in 1918 in Utsjoki. Ovllá-Ivvár decided to fool Death and take his fate into his own hands. Today we are facing a similar threat in the form of coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. The protagonist of the film is walking in Ovllá-Ivvár’s footsteps. But at the end, who is really who?

Luminocity, October 14–21 2023, Kamloops, Canada

More information: Luminocity

AV-arkki has promoted and distributed Finnish media art since 1989. AV-arkki’s promotional efforts have made the artists’ participation in this event possible. If you want to hear the latest news from our distribution, subscribe to our newsletter!