Beavvit II

Beavvit II appears to depict a chorus of voices, forming a collective force. The Northern Sámi title means “[many] good friends”, but it also resembles the word for sun, beaivi. The work is made from the colourful shawl fringes of Sámi costumes, assembled into a floating sphere. Outi Pieski’s installations, paintings and actions draw on the living craft tradition, duodji, and sheds light on the colonially shaped devaluation of Sámi visual culture. Her work raises questions about the conditions for an Indigenous people’s survival, about the right to self-determination, and the struggle against national borders and the repression of knowledge. It also highlights the central, yet often overlooked, role of women as the bearers of culture.