The Lásságámmi Foundation and the Centre for Northern Peoples have signed a new cooperation agreement on making the cultural heritage of the multi-artist Nils-Aslak Valkeapää accessible. The aim is to develop a permanent Áillohaš exhibition and storage facility for his art and artefacts at Davvi álbmogiid guovddáš / Centre for Northern Peoples (DÁG).
The Lásságámmi Foundation, which is responsible for caring for and promoting the cultural legacy of Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Áillohaš, has long emphasised the need for a permanent exhibition space where the public can experience and be inspired by Áillohaš's art. The Centre for Northern Peoples, with its premises, various institutions, activities and expertise, would be the right setting for such an exhibition.
The chairman of Lásságámmi, Anne Dalheim, and the general manager of the Centre for Northern Peoples, Terje Ansgar Eriksen, have now signed a new agreement with the aim of realising the project. Among other things, a working group will be set up to investigate the possibilities for a permanent exhibition and store at the centre.
The Lásságámmi Foundation and DÁG have also worked through previous co-operation agreements to develop a permanent exhibition, and also to strengthen each other in other areas where it is natural.
- A separate Áillohašrom, with an associated archive/magazine, will be a very important contribution to the work of promoting and disseminating his art. "As an artist, Valkeapää has meant, and continues to mean, a great deal to indigenous peoples all over the world. For our centre, such an exhibition will harmonise well with the fact that, through the Bååstede project, we will also be returning objects from our area to the Norwegian Folk Museum. It opens up good arenas for communication, and we hope that we can also bring out new inspired creativity, both through Lásságámmi with its residency programmes - but perhaps also bring out a living workshop here at the centre," says Terje Ansgar Eriksen.
Nils-Aslak Valkeapää
Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, also known as Áillohaš, was a Finnish-Sámi multi-artist; writer, composer, musician, joker and illustrator. He was the first Sami author to win the Nordic Council Literature Prize for Beaivi, áhčážan / The Sun, My Father in 1991.
Valkeapää moved from Finland to Skibotn in 1996 and was granted Norwegian citizenship in 2001. His house, Lásságámmi, was built on the plot of land he received as a 50th birthday present from Storfjord municipality. The plot is located on a rocky hillside, and the house was intended to be a large gambrel - hence the name, which directly translates as Svaberggammen.
In November 2001, Valkeapää went on a long journey to Japan, but died in Espoo on his way home. He was buried in Birtavarre in Kåfjord. Before Nils-Aslak Valkeapää died, he expressed that he had done his part and that he did not fear his last walk on earth.
Lásságámmi Foundation
Lásságámmi is also the name of the foundation that manages the rights to Nils-Aslak Valkeapää's intellectual property. The foundation was established in 2004 and is owned by the Sami Parliament, Storfjord Municipality, Troms County Council and the University of Tromsø. The foundation's mission statement states that it will manage the legacy of Nils-Aslak Valkeapää according to the spirit and philosophy reflected in his works and publications.
By allowing selected people to live and work on their own art and research in Nils-Aslak Valkeapää's house, the foundation wants to stimulate the residents to continue their professional and artistic development. In principle, the house has been kept as Nils-Aslak Valkeapää left it.
Read more about the multi-artist Lásságámmi Nils-Aslak Valkeapää
Nils-Aslak Valkeapää, Norwegian Biographical Encyclopaedia
Nils-Aslak Valkeapää - a humble Sámi voice in the world, Harald Gaski 2007
30 Áillohaš paintings about to be destroyed - now the municipality is taking action, NRK 2015
Watch the film Son of the Sun, NRK 2017
Watch the film: The sun, my father Nils Aslak Valkeapää, NRK 1991
Watch the film: Váimmustan lea biegga / Tuuli käy läpi sydämein / The wind is blowing through my heart
Nils-Aslak Valkeapää in memoriam, 2001.