Sami Struggles in Art & Law
The importance of art in the Sami political struggle, and advances made in terms of – and through – rights and law. With Ánde Somby, Sami joik artist and associate professor at the University of Tromsø.
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Organized struggles for recognition of Sami rights have been ongoing for a century, since Elsa Laula Renberg and other Sami pioneers organized the first trans-national Sami convention in 1917. It has been fought on many fronts, and with art and law as central tools and battlefields – and areas of considerable success. But despite progress, battles remain, as shown by the UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous People Rights. After her 2016 report, claims for a Truth Commission into the crimes committed against Sami people have intensified in both Norway and Sweden.
The seminar looks at the importance of art in the Sami political struggle, and how advances have been made in terms of – and through – rights and law. It also specifically addresses the significance of a truth commission in the sami context.
Ánde Somby is a traditional Sami joik artist and an associate professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Tromsø, specializing in Indigenous Rights Law.
This seminar is organized by Centre on Law & Social Transformation.
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