Photo: Karoline Trollvik.

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New School News: Matti Aikio, Sámi Fellow at the Vera List Center, Explores Legacies of Settler Colonialism

Mar 9, 2023

An interview with artist Matti Aikio on occasion of his and 2022–2023 Sámi Fellowship, a joint initiative between Frame Contemporary Art Finland, the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, and the Vera List Center for Art and Politics at The New School, and Conflicting Relations, a day-long program that brings together Indigenous artists working in and with cultural institutions.

MATTI AIKIO, SÁMI FELLOW AT THE VERA LIST CENTER, EXPLORES LEGACIES OF SETTLER COLONIALISM IN THE SÁPMI REGION AND THE UNITED STATES THROUGH RESEARCH AND ARTISTIC PROJECTS

NEW SCHOOL NEWS, MARCH 9, 2023

“Since the 1990s, Sámi artist Matti Aikio has been following the case of the neo-Lapp movement, a group of people aiming to disrupt and block any forward movement in land claims by the Sámi people, an Indigenous group inhabiting the region of Sápmi, which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and of the Kola Peninsula in Russia.

As a visual artist who works with photography, video, sculptural installations, sound art, and music, Aikio’s work explores the history of the Sámi people and highlights the successes and challenges of the group’s political mobilization. His artistic projects and research also aim to uncover parallels between other Indigenous groups who are fighting for the protection of their lands, culture, heritage, and more.”