Worlds in Relation: A Conversation on Sámi Worldbuilding with Jenni Laiti, Áslat Holmberg and Lada Suomenrinne
Taking the exhibition no beginning no end. Decolonial Gestures in Sámi Worldbuilding as its point of departure, this conversation brings together artivist and duojár Jenni Laiti, artist Lada Suomenrinne, and activist, fisher and teacher Áslat Holmberg. Moderated by Jaanika Vider.
The discussion will move between works in the exhibition and the participants’ wider practices and experiences, considering relationships to land and water, storytelling and knowledge, identity and self-determination. It asks how worlds are made and sustained through relationships between people, places, languages and other beings, and what happens when these relationships are disrupted by environmental change, colonial structures or decisions made without the consent of affected communities. What role can art and collective action play in maintaining, repairing or transforming relations and in shaping possible futures?
Through questions and reflections from the audience, the conversation also seeks to open space to consider how Sámi contemporary art and the issues it engages with resonate in Estonia.
This international exhibition examines the complex journey being taken by the Sámi people as they strive for Indigenous justice and self-determination through decolonial worldbuilding. The politicization of Sámi art that began in the 1960s and 1970s, developing in parallel with the Sámi self-determination movement, has received widespread attention over the last decade. Today, Sámi art has become one of the most visible and dynamic parts of the Nordic contemporary art scene, and is increasingly prominent in the global artistic arena. This exhibition presents works by artists from different generations, including figures who prepared the ground for the vigorous developments currently being seen in Sámi art, as well as younger artists.
no beginning, no end stands in dialogue with the exhibition Expedition: Finno-Ugrians and the Power of Images (2 October 2026–21 February 2027), curated by Linda Kaljundi. Both are contributions to Expedition, a joint multi-year research project undertaken by the Art Museum of Estonia, the Estonian Academy of Arts, and the Estonian National Museum that has been investigating our relationships with Indigenous peoples and the impact these relationships have had on Estonians’ own self-image.
