In connection with the opening of the exhibition: The Network Builder – Elsa Laula Renberg On February 6th, we are hosting radio cinema with an episode from the radio series «In Elsa Laula's Footsteps Through Sápmi – 100 Years of Sami Rights Struggle».
Episode: A Picture Can Change
A photograph. Five people sitting around a small table on a patch of grass. In the middle sits an elderly woman. Above her, a man stands, holding a metal instrument around her head. The woman's name is Sara Paulsen and she is Eva Fjellheim's maadteraahka, great-grandmother. The episode “A Picture Can Change” examines Sámi race research. The 1920s and 1930s were the heyday of race research. Over a couple of decades, the Sámi population, among others, was photographed and described as dirty, less intelligent, and with generally poor heredity. In the episode, Fjellheim's family photo is the thread running through a story about Sámi race research. We are taken on a journey through old photo archives in Uppsala and research work in Tysfjord, to the recently established Truth Commission.
In the four-episode radio series, Sámi women who in various ways manage Sámi heritage within Sápmi today share their stories. The series depicts everything from the struggle for natural resources, colonisation, Norwegianisation and racial biology to language, art and culture. Many of the issues Elsa Laula Renberg fought for 100 years ago prove to be relevant today.
The collective behind the series is called Søstrene Suse and consists of: Eva Maria Fjellheim, Susanne Normann, Ingrid Fadnes, Astrid Fadnes and editor and supervisor Kjersti Kanestrøm Lie. Eva Maria Fjellheim is also the narrator in the episodes.
Astrid Fadnes will introduce us to the process behind the series and host a radio cinema. After the screening, we will open for questions and discussion.
Read more about the documentary series: In Elsa Laula's footsteps through Sápmi
Read more about the exhibition: The Network Builder – Elsa Laula Renberg
Listen to the radio series: In Elsa Laula's footsteps through Sápmi
