This autumn, the Rievdan team took part in several conferences to share recent work carried out together with the Vuohčču and Kárášjohka communities. It was inspiring to exchange experiences with other northern researchers and to deepen conversations around art-based action research and new genre Arctic art education.
Our conference season began at the first SuMu (Sustainable Naturecultures and Multispecies Future) symposium at the University of Lapland in September. We presented the project and the first workshop, which resulted in the Ráhkis Báiki – Dear Place installation shown at Valo Galleria in the Arktikum Museum as part of the Näkyväksi tehty (Made Visible) exhibition.
In early November, we joined the Relate North symposium, held online and focused on the theme “Lessons of the Land.” We shared outcomes from the second workshop completed with the Vuohčču and Kárášjohka communities, highlighting the participants’ strong cultural connection to their environment and their inherited knowledge.
Later in November, the team participated in the FERA Conference (Finnish Educational Research Association), contributing to discussions on new genre Arctic art education and its role in supporting northern communities. The symposium also highlighted the publication Mapping the New Genre Arctic Art Education, a valuable resource for teacher educators, researchers, and practitioners working across art and science.
https://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-337-457-7
We warmly thank the communities of Kárášjohka and Vuohčču for their collaboration and for granting permission to present their artworks and photographs during these conferences.