Papers by Liisa-Ravna Finbog
CAS - Contemporary Art Stavanger, 2023
In the text Yul Brynner in Space is Life: On Collecting Art, or Perhaps, On the Art of Collectin... more In the text Yul Brynner in Space is Life: On Collecting Art, or Perhaps, On the Art of Collecting, Sámi Indigenous scholar, duojár and curator Dr. Liisa-Rávná Finbog offers a critical reflection on the philosophy of collecting. In stark contrast to commonly accepted rhetoric of museums as preservers of cultural heritage, Finbog outlines how collection practices have aided colonial ideals throughout history, and questions what stories have been sacrificed in order to uphold this destructive narrative.
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Galang 1, 2022
The Heavdni spoke: “Come child from the land of red and yellow, walk with me for a while. I will ... more The Heavdni spoke: “Come child from the land of red and yellow, walk with me for a while. I will show you the movement of the seas, learning you to remember our futures and imagine our pasts, walking the paths of the heavdni, the time-weaver, telling you stories of the museums, which is the calamity of your people, but also of the museum, that could become your salvation.
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The knowledge systems that Western academia is based upon, with few exceptions, are dependent on ... more The knowledge systems that Western academia is based upon, with few exceptions, are dependent on a humanocentric perspective. This epistemic ignorance justifies the continued exclusion of the philosophical and intellectual traditions of Indigenous or other non-Western societies that often have radical different approaches, values, and perspectives. The implications are many and serious. In the following I consider some of these implications from the starting point of a Sámi ontological understanding of the world by looking at the perception of land from a Sámi epistemological perspective and by discussion the notion of terra nullius, or the principle of "nobody's land".
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The legacy of the harsh assimilation policy in Norway – fornorskingen
– has resulted in a loss of... more The legacy of the harsh assimilation policy in Norway – fornorskingen
– has resulted in a loss of language, cultural heritage and corresponding identities
for many within the Sámi population. Helped along in particular by the practice
of late nineteenth and twentieth-century ethnographic and cultural-history
museums, the culture of Norway has often been presented as a singular culture
with few, if any, references to the Sámi. Only in the last few decades have any
attempts been made to rectify this image. In this article, I show how the Sámi
communities have appropriated the tools of assimilation – i.e. museums – and
used them to counteract its effects. I focus on the work of indigenous museums in
one geographical area – the counties of Nordland and Troms – and the Marke-
Sámi population and culture within this area. Using the Marke-Sámi community
as my starting point I show how the use of local and traditional knowledge
alongside heritage work in museums helps form a sense of local ownership of the
Marke-Sámi culture and an entitlement to participate in the creation of modern
Marke-Sámi identities amongst the local Marke-Sámi population.
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Talks by Liisa-Ravna Finbog
Theory From The Margins You Tube, 2021
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Thesis Chapters by Liisa-Ravna Finbog
Master of Museology/ Masteroppgave i Museologi, 2013
Since 2001 the Sami museums in Norway have been under the jurisdiction of the Sami Parliament. As... more Since 2001 the Sami museums in Norway have been under the jurisdiction of the Sami Parliament. As a result of this an extensive reorganization and redefinition of the Sami museums has been implemented. The focus has been on the role of the museum in establishing a Sami identity, particularly in areas where the Sami culture has been put under pressure to become Norwegian over a long period of time. One of these areas is the Marke-Sami area in the northern part of the county of Nordland and the southern part of the county of Troms. This thesis aims at analysing the role of the Várdobáiki sámi guovddás – a Marke-Sami culture center which has had the administrative responsibility of all the Marke-Sami areas – in relation to the development and reinforcement of a Marke-Sami identity in a museum practice. The analysis is based on Várdobáiki – with all its underlying musum entities – as a contact zone in which the different participants can meet and negotiate a unified Marke-Sami identity. Based on interviews with the different participants this analysis focuses on local ownership as a central topic. By closer examination of how the center promotes the participants local ownership of the Marke-Sami culture this analysis attempts to distinguish the many and varied approaches to create, negotiate, strengthen and maintain a Marke-Sami identity.
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Master in Museology, 2013
Since 2001 the Sami museums in Norway have been under the jurisdiction of the Sami Parliament. As... more Since 2001 the Sami museums in Norway have been under the jurisdiction of the Sami Parliament. As a result of this an extensive reorganization and redefinition of the Sami museums has been implemented. The focus has been on the role of the museum in
establishing a Sami identity, particularly in areas where the Sami culture has been put under pressure to become Norwegian over a long period of time. One of these areas is the MarkeSami area in the northern part of the county of Nordland and the southern part of the county of Troms.
This thesis aims at analysing the role of the Várdobáiki sámi guovddás – a Marke-Sami culture center which has had the administrative responsibility of all the Marke-Sami areas – inrelation to the development and reinforcement of a Marke-Sami identity in a museum practice.
The analysis is based on Várdobáiki – with all its underlying musum entities – as a contact zone in which the different participants can meet and negotiate a unified Marke-Sami identity. Based on interviews with the different participants this analysis focuses on local ownership as
a central topic. By closer examination of how the center promotes the participants’ local ownership of the Marke-Sami culture this analysis attempts to distinguish the many and varied approaches to create, negotiate, strengthen and maintain a Marke-Sami identity.
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Books by Liisa-Ravna Finbog
NGV TRIENNIAL, 2023
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Finbog, Liisa-Ravna. 2022. Seeing the Unseen, in Finbog, Liisa-Ravna, Katya Garciá-Anton & Beaska... more Finbog, Liisa-Ravna. 2022. Seeing the Unseen, in Finbog, Liisa-Ravna, Katya Garciá-Anton & Beaska Niillas (eds.) Čatnosat: The Sámi Pavillon: Indigenous art, knowledge and sovereignty, Oslo/Amsterdam: Office for Contemporary Art-Norway (OCA)/ Valiz, pp. 25-37.
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The Duojár: An Agent of the Symbolic Repatriation of Sámi Cultural Heritage, In Jennifer Markides & Laura Forsythe (ed.), Research Journeys In/To Multiple Ways of Knowing. Dio Press Inc. ISBN 9781645040101. Chapter 10. s 93 - 102, 2019
The Indigenous People of the nordic countries, the Sámi, have historically been subjected to both... more The Indigenous People of the nordic countries, the Sámi, have historically been subjected to both the colonization of their customary regions (Sápmi) as well as four different nation states assimilation politics. The result of which has been felt by many in the sámi population as a loss of language, cultural heritage, both material and immaterial, and ethnic identities. Though the last 50 years or so have seen a revitalization amongst those suffering losses alongside a gradual return of political autonomy within some of these communities, substantial amounts of sámi cultural heritage are still located in non-sámi museums and have yet to be repatriated. In this article I examine how sámi duojars-the practicioners of sámi customary craftmanship (duodji)-are reproducing objects from museum collections, and I suggest that this is a way in which duojárs engage in a symbolic repatriation wherein both the material object and the árbediehtu (traditional knowledge) involved in the making of these is being re-appropriated.
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Papers by Liisa-Ravna Finbog
– has resulted in a loss of language, cultural heritage and corresponding identities
for many within the Sámi population. Helped along in particular by the practice
of late nineteenth and twentieth-century ethnographic and cultural-history
museums, the culture of Norway has often been presented as a singular culture
with few, if any, references to the Sámi. Only in the last few decades have any
attempts been made to rectify this image. In this article, I show how the Sámi
communities have appropriated the tools of assimilation – i.e. museums – and
used them to counteract its effects. I focus on the work of indigenous museums in
one geographical area – the counties of Nordland and Troms – and the Marke-
Sámi population and culture within this area. Using the Marke-Sámi community
as my starting point I show how the use of local and traditional knowledge
alongside heritage work in museums helps form a sense of local ownership of the
Marke-Sámi culture and an entitlement to participate in the creation of modern
Marke-Sámi identities amongst the local Marke-Sámi population.
Talks by Liisa-Ravna Finbog
Thesis Chapters by Liisa-Ravna Finbog
establishing a Sami identity, particularly in areas where the Sami culture has been put under pressure to become Norwegian over a long period of time. One of these areas is the MarkeSami area in the northern part of the county of Nordland and the southern part of the county of Troms.
This thesis aims at analysing the role of the Várdobáiki sámi guovddás – a Marke-Sami culture center which has had the administrative responsibility of all the Marke-Sami areas – inrelation to the development and reinforcement of a Marke-Sami identity in a museum practice.
The analysis is based on Várdobáiki – with all its underlying musum entities – as a contact zone in which the different participants can meet and negotiate a unified Marke-Sami identity. Based on interviews with the different participants this analysis focuses on local ownership as
a central topic. By closer examination of how the center promotes the participants’ local ownership of the Marke-Sami culture this analysis attempts to distinguish the many and varied approaches to create, negotiate, strengthen and maintain a Marke-Sami identity.
Books by Liisa-Ravna Finbog
– has resulted in a loss of language, cultural heritage and corresponding identities
for many within the Sámi population. Helped along in particular by the practice
of late nineteenth and twentieth-century ethnographic and cultural-history
museums, the culture of Norway has often been presented as a singular culture
with few, if any, references to the Sámi. Only in the last few decades have any
attempts been made to rectify this image. In this article, I show how the Sámi
communities have appropriated the tools of assimilation – i.e. museums – and
used them to counteract its effects. I focus on the work of indigenous museums in
one geographical area – the counties of Nordland and Troms – and the Marke-
Sámi population and culture within this area. Using the Marke-Sámi community
as my starting point I show how the use of local and traditional knowledge
alongside heritage work in museums helps form a sense of local ownership of the
Marke-Sámi culture and an entitlement to participate in the creation of modern
Marke-Sámi identities amongst the local Marke-Sámi population.
establishing a Sami identity, particularly in areas where the Sami culture has been put under pressure to become Norwegian over a long period of time. One of these areas is the MarkeSami area in the northern part of the county of Nordland and the southern part of the county of Troms.
This thesis aims at analysing the role of the Várdobáiki sámi guovddás – a Marke-Sami culture center which has had the administrative responsibility of all the Marke-Sami areas – inrelation to the development and reinforcement of a Marke-Sami identity in a museum practice.
The analysis is based on Várdobáiki – with all its underlying musum entities – as a contact zone in which the different participants can meet and negotiate a unified Marke-Sami identity. Based on interviews with the different participants this analysis focuses on local ownership as
a central topic. By closer examination of how the center promotes the participants’ local ownership of the Marke-Sami culture this analysis attempts to distinguish the many and varied approaches to create, negotiate, strengthen and maintain a Marke-Sami identity.