Britta Marakatt-Labba has for decades depicted the indigenous Samí people’s mythology, relation to nature and political struggle, as in her piece Historjá, a 24-meter-long embroidery depicting motifs from Sami history. With small stitches, Marakatt-Labba evokes the history and mythology of the Sami people, as well as stories of colonialism, state-supported racism and political strife. After decades of protesting her people’s rights through art, she is now facing another struggle: the fight against climate change as it threatens traditional ways of life on the Arctic tundra. After generations of family reindeer-herding, will her son be able to carry on the family tradition?
“Nature truly comes alive in this stunningly beautiful story about the Sámi worldview and mythology” (Business Doc Europe); Historjá is a poetic and visually stunning story of indigenous peoples’ struggle against climate change, told through the visual landscape of one of the world’s most sought-after artists, who represented Sapmi and Sweden at the Nordic pavilion in the Venice Biennale, 2022. Winner of Best Documentary Film, Guldbaggen Awards 2023.
On view at Scandinavia House through July 22, 2023, Arctic Highways — Unbounded Indigenous People brings together the artwork and handicrafts of 12 Indigenous artists from Sápmi, Canada and Alaska in an exhibition highlighting the thriving cultural and spiritual communities of the Arctic region. Learn more here.
About Thomas Jackson
Thomas Jackson has directed some of the most acclaimed documentary films originating from Sweden in recent years. The internationally successful “Foodies – The Culinary Jetset” let us glimpse into the life of five of the world’s leading food bloggers, travelling the globe in search of the most extreme culinary experiences. In “Kartellen: Light Up The Shadows” he follows the turmoil of Sweden’s biggest gangster rap group as their lead rapper tries to reconcile his newly-found Christian faith with the group’s violent and chaotic lifestyle.
The genre-bending and visually striking “Seek and You Shall Find” sheds light on the human ability to create new worlds through our imagination, and ultimately explores the boundaries between our outer and our inner worlds. Thomas’s films have been shown around the world at such festivals as the Berlin International Film Festival, Toronto Hot Docs, Tokyo Film Festival and MOMA Tokyo. Thomas has also worked with several of the biggest documentary television platforms in Sweden, such as Kobra, Danne och Bleckan and Jills Veranda.