Sáhtána Álbmot (Djevelens Folk/Devil’s Kin)

Sáhtána Álbmot (Djevelens Folk/Devil’s Kin)

Audiovisual performance by Viktor Bomstad and Magnus Skei Holmen 5 Feb, 20:00, Landmark, Free

Join us at Landmark for a 35-minute audiovisual performance by artist and filmmaker Magnus Skei Holmen and joiker and musician Viktor Bomstad. The artists present Sáhtána Álbmot (Djevelens Folk/Devil's Kin), a meditation on historical sources that portray the Sámi people from an outside perspective, often through a demonising and dehumanising lens.

The work draws on writing such as that of cartographer and priest Olaus Magnus, who in his book Historia de Gentibus Septentrionalibus (A Description of the Northern Peoples) demonised the Sámi people as "the devil's own kin in the North", a place from which, he wrote, "evil appeareth". While revisiting historical sources, Sáhtána Álbmot also moves towards different registers shaped by the artists themselves, depicting specific sites and landscapes with a genuine connection to Sámi culture. The work finds form through the conversation, contrast and friction between the artists' perspectives and demonising historical narratives.

This event held in collaboration with LitFest Bergen, Birgon ja biras samiid searvi (Bergen og omegn sameforening/Bergen and Surrounding Area Sami Association), leading up to Sámi álbmotbeaivi (Samisk nasjonaldag / Sámi National Day).