AMASS--AMAS--WEIRD
Mirja Hiltunen
Photos: Elisa Pölönen, 2021.
Art-based multidisciplinary activity week at Utsjoki Sámi Upper Secondary School and Utsjoki River Valley School Centre, Finland (3.5.2021–7.5.2021), where everyone’s handprint can be seen.
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Art-based workshops with the Utsjoki River Valley School Centre and Sámi Upper Secondary School in northernmost Lapland in Finland, in the Sápmi area, contemplateds the subject of how ‘weird’ is perceived.
AMASS (Acting on the Margin, Art as Social Sculpture) is an international collaborative project to highlight peripheral areas of Europe. Its aim is to find ways to affect society through art-based means. In Northern Sámi, one of the languages of the indigenous Sámi people, amas means weird or strange, and therefore it was selected to be the leading theme of the AMASS Utsjoki multidisciplinary activity week, with several art-based workshops taking place at Utsjoki River Valley School Centre. A group of art education students from the University of Lapland in Rovaniemi and the project leader, Professor Mirja Hiltunen, worked with the pupils, students and teachers to discover why something so very strange and peculiar can be for someone else very familiar and everyday-like.The unfamiliar can be exhilarating, but it becomes more familiar as one gets better acquainted with it. The themes chosen promoted a closer investigation of one’s own culture, familiar locations, participation within the community and interest in other cultures. The three art-based workshops reflected the themes of local landscapes, participation and narratives. In the map workshop, the Utsjoki area and its topographic formations were investigated by using technology in a sustainabe and environmentally friendly manner. Quirky self-portraits were made as part of a communal artwork exhibited in the school as part of the arts and crafts workshop. And in the primary school media workshop, playful narratives were visualised and illustrated, as students from the upper school and upper secondary school focused on local history and how to connect the narratives of the past with the present time. The goal of the workshops was to develop the participants’ relationship with their surroundings and the local area, broaden the way they picture their surroundings and culture and identify how they place themselves within it. Among the activities, we contemplated who we are and where we come from. The periphery, in this case, was defined by the Sápmi area, a place of outstanding landscapes that culturally extends beyond national borders into four countries. The finished pieces of collaborative artwork are now exhibited in the newly finished school centre of the Utsjoki municipality. The themes for the workshops were part of the national curriculum’s extensive objectives for the practice of teaching that support the perception and development of learners’ cultural identity and how they become active participants in their own society. The workshops also aimed to enhance creativity and to increase interaction within one culture and between cultures. The international network of the AMASS project brought the northernmost location of the European Union, the Utsjoki municipality in Finland , and the rest of European Union together through European discussion about peripheral areas. The art education students of University of Lapland who participated in the project were Samuli Halen, Sara Kangas-Korhonen, Iida-Maria Karppinen, Henna Mattila, Pulmu Pitkänen and Elisa Pölönen. |
DIEĐÁHUSOhcejoga Sámelogahaga ja Ohcejohnjálmmi vuođđoskuvlla dáiddavuđđosaš AMASS-MOK doaibmanvahkus (3.-7.5.2021) juohkehačča gieđaluodda oidnosii.
Oppa Ohcejohnjálmmi vuođđoskuvla ja Sámelogahat guorahallamin dáiddabargobájiin mii ártet lea? Amas? AMASS (Acting on the Margin, Art as Social sculpture) lea eurohpalaš oktasašbargoprojeakta, mas buktojit ovdan Eurohpa ravdaguovllut. Projeavtta ulbmilin lea gávdnat vugiid váikkuhit servodahkii dáidaga vehkiin. Davvisámegillii amas dárkkuha apmasa. Ohcejoga AMASS-MOK, máŋggasuorggat bargobádjevahkkui válljašuvaige temán amasvuohta. Bargobájiin vástidan Lapin yliopisto govvadáiddabajásgeassima oahppit ja projeavtta jođihan professor Mirja Hiltunen guorahalle ovttas skuvlalaččaiguin ja oahpaheaddjiiguin, mo nubbái vehá amas ja ártet sáhttá leat nubbái hui oahpis ja árgabeaivválaš. Amas sáhttá leat geldui, muhto šaddat lagasin, go dasa oahpásma. Temát laktásedje iežas kultuvrra dutkamii, iežas báikkiide, doaibmamii iežas servodagas ja berošteapmái eará kultuvrraid hárrái. Kártabargobájis dutkojedje Ohcejoga eatnamiid mihtilmas eananhámit ja adnojuvvui ávkin teknologiija fihtolaččat ja bistevaš vugiin. Giehtaduodjebájis šadde hearvás iešgovat oassin servodatlaš dáiddaduoji, vuolleskuvlla mediabájis visualiserejedje iežaset skálžžáris máidnasiid, badjeskuvllas ja logahagas vudjo bealisteaset báikki historjái ja muitalusaide ovttastahttimiin daid dán áigái. Bargobájiid ulbmilin lei viiddidit oahppi vuogi hámuhit birrasa, iežas kultuvrra ja iežas daid oassin. Doaibmamii vuođđuduvvi bargguid gaskkas smihttojuvvui, geat mii leat ja gos boahtit. Dáiddabájiin šaddan servodatlaš dáiddaduojit báhce oassin ođđa skuvlla. Temát laktásit oahppaplána viiddissuorggát ulbmiliidda, oahpahussii, mii doarju oahppiid iežaset kulturidentitehta duddjoma ja šaddama aktiivvalaš doaibmin. Seammás geahččaluvvo nannet luovvivuođa sihke ovddidit vuorrováikkuhusa kultuvrraid siste ja daid gaskka. AMASS-projeavtta riikkaidgaskasaš fierpmádat buktá Ohcejoga ossodaga oassin eurohpalaš projeavtta ja riikkaidgaskasaš ságastallama. Govvadáiddabajásgeassima oahppavázzit: Samuli Halen, Sara Kangas-Korhonen, Iida-Maria Karppinen, Henna Mattila, Pulmu Pitkänen ja Elisa Pölönen. |
Photos: Mirja Hiltunen, 2021
Publications
And exhibitions where the experiment has been shown
Documents of Socially Engaged Art. Saint James Cavalier, Spazju Kreattiv, Malta, 2021
More information / Lassedieđut
Contact the project leader, Mirja Hiltunen, Professor of Art Education at the University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland (mirja.hiltunen@ulapland.fi).
Govvadáiddabajásgeassima professor, Lapin yliopisto +358 40 484 4373 | mirja.hiltunen@ulapland.fi
Govvadáiddabajásgeassima professor, Lapin yliopisto +358 40 484 4373 | mirja.hiltunen@ulapland.fi
