Timed to coincide with the now-delayed final report from the Sámi Truth Commission – postponed until October 2026 – a new exhibition, “art and Truth-Telling,” opened at Bildmuseet in Umeå and Gaaltije Saemien Museume in Staare. The exhibit explores themes of truth, cultural heritage, and minority rights through a variety of Sámi artistic mediums, including joik and traditional crafts. While not directly tied to the ongoing commission’s work, the exhibition offers a powerful artistic lens through which to consider the complex histories and ongoing dialogues surrounding Sámi identity and experiences.
”Art and Truth-Telling” Explores Sámi Identity
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1 / 2Photo: Malin Grönborg
”Art and Truth-Telling” at Bildmuseet in Umeå
The Sámi Truth Commission was originally scheduled to submit its final report on December 1st of this year. That didn’t happen; a new date is set for October 1st, 2026. However, the exhibition “Art and Truth-Telling,” which was timed to coincide with the original date, has opened regardless. Truth, art, post-truth, minority rights, and cultural heritage – there’s enough to explore even without the work of a commission. The exhibition was created in collaboration between Bildmuseet in Umeå and Gaaltije Saemien Museume in Staare (Östersund) and is rooted in, and focused on, a South Sámi context.
Mats Jonsson, whose graphic novel “When We Were Sámi” was released four years ago, sets the tone, acting as a kind of prologue with both a one-page comic strip and an animation, both depicting the Truth Commission’s visit to Árviesjávrrie (Arvidsjaur). “We Who Follow” scratches at the wound of previous generations’ obscuring of Sámi identity, the invisibility of the forest Sámi. Themes that resonate from previous works. Still, it’s a moving piece, highlighting how painful truth commission processes can be.
Jonsson’s work is a starting point, but the exhibition itself isn’t closely tied to the context of the commission. However, it does address the truth: Sissel M Berghs film “Bissie Baektie” (Sacred Little Mountain) tackles Sverresborg outside Tråante (Trondheim). The film is a brilliantly humorous and sharp deconstruction of nationalist myths about Norway as a Germanic homeland – myths that are perpetuated and have obscured the Sámi presence in the area.
Alongside the various truths of historical writing, the exhibition explores the excavation of lost cultural heritage, craft-based works, and pan-Sámi collaborations. Risfjells Sameslöjd (Doris and Sven-Åke Risfjell) displays both their own and collected works in display cases designed by Johanna Minde, a striking mix of patterns and crafts, Sámi tradition and spatiality. Her work creates a grand backdrop for the pieces in front of it.
