In the face of an pandemic and of increasingly visible climate change, the notion of care has taken on multiple shapes and forms that for many might seem different to our typical understanding of care, wherein care is “the provision of what is necessary for the health, welfare, maintenance, and protection of someone or something” (Oxford dictionary).
But care has always been diverse, presenting as ambivalent in both significance and ontology. In most Indigenous ontologies, or perspectives on reality, care is not a matter limited to humanity. Rather, care is extended to and from multiple relations because we are already involved in and together with land, waters, other humans, spiritual entities, other animals and living organisms. This means that within an Indigenous understanding of the world[s] we are already in relations of mutual care.
From a place of mutual care, the Dare to Care discussion brings together indigenous and allied creators and artists to discuss issues relating to care of and between their various artistic practices, their connection to land, and their place in their world-of-relations. The discussion is led by Ailu Valle, Aqqalu Berthelsen, Ingrid Fadnes and Niap, and facilitated by Liisa-Rávná Finbog.
The discussion takes place in Café Bruket located within the Cultural Centre Caisa. Vegan soup will be served for the price of 6,50. Before the discussion, you are welcome to come and watch MATA, which is a documentary film about the impacts of industrial land use and the struggle of indigenous peoples and small farmers to preserve and defend their land. The film by Ingrid Fadnes and Fábio Nascimento is part of the festival programme.
Ailu Valle is a rap artist from Utsjohka, Sápmi, who raps in Northern Sámi, Finnish and English. He has released three solo albums in Northern Sámi, “Dušši dušše duššat” (2012), “7” (2015) and “Viidon sieiddit” (2019). Valle won the Finnish State Culture Prize in 2019, granted by Taike and the Best Songwriter/ Composer prize of the year, granted by Sámi Music Awards and TONO Norway in 2020.
Aqqalu Berthelsen, also known as Uyarakq, is a self-taught music producer, composer and DJ born in Nuuk, Greenland. Berthelsen, who has his background in metal music, is currently working in the Indigenous circumpolar hip hop and rap scene with a foot in two continents, the North American arctic and the European arctic. Berthelsen won a Greenlandic Koda Award in 2015 for his solo album Raatiu Nukik (2014) and got nominated for Nordic Councils Music Prize in 2016 for the collaborative work Kunngiitsuuffik (2015) alongside the Greenlandic rapper Peand-eL. He is now living in Inari, Northern Finland/Sápmi.
Ingrid Fadnes is a Norwegian journalist and researcher who has followed political occurrences in Latin America for more than a decade, especially surrounding the conflicts between agriculture and indigenous peoples. She has made several radio documentaries about Latin America, as well as about Norway and the Sápmi region.
Niap (Nancy Saunders) is a multimedia artist from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik, currently based in Montreal. She has always expressed herself artistically and has only recently started presenting her works professionally and has quickly gained attention for her art. Niap’s practice shifts between sculpture, textiles, paintings and more. Through each medium, she reaffirms and celebrates her culture by incorporating elements that represent her identity as an Inuk woman.
Liisa-Rávná Finbog is a Sámi archaeologist and museologist, who sometimes dabbles in duodji. Finbog is part of the curatorial team for the Sámi Pavilion at Venice Biennale 2022.