Matti Aikio on the intersection of modern western society and indigenous culture

In light of the Together Again Festival soon coming to fruition, The FCINY wanted to take the opportunity to chat with artist Matti Aikio while he visited New York this August. Matti, who the FCINY has commissioned for the festival, is a Sámi artist with roots in reindeer herding, holding an MA in contemporary art from Tromsø Academy of Contemporary Art. In his art, he explores phenomena stemming from the intersection of modern Western society’s and indigenous culture’s worldviews and relationships with space, time, and nature - the Sámi culture in particular.

Earlier this year, Matti also visited New York to participate in the “Conflicting Relations” program, which was presented as a part of his fellowship with Vera List Center, participation in Frame Finland’s 2023 public program “Rehearsing Hospitalities,” and his commission as a part of the Together Again Festival, funded by the Finnish Cultural Foundation and the Wihuri Foundation.

Describe your practice

“My artistic practice includes photography, video, sound, text, installations, mixed media, and more. Topics vary, but they often have some connection to my cultural background; for example, I’m very interested in trying to use my art practice to explore indigenous relationships with nature and why it’s contradicting modern society’s relationship with nature, and in what kind of situations this becomes visible or even conflicting.”

Can you tell us more about what you are working on for Together Again?

“I have not decided exactly what will be presented at the Together Again festival yet, but my work will highlight the fascinating but complicated topic of settler-colonial attempts at claiming Indigenous identity in Finland, called the Neo Lapp Movement, in some academic research.

To give some context, as the discussion about Sámi peoples’ rights has risen since the 1980s, so has the fear that the improvement of Sámi peoples’ legal and political status will become an issue. As a result, a sort of countermobilization was created and intensified in the ’90s, and they started appropriating the terms 'Lapp' and 'Lapplander', which were terms the Sámi people were trying to move away from, instead promoting the term ‘Sámi’ to be used. The Neo Lapp Movement adopted the ‘Lapp’ and ‘Lapplander’ terms, making up a narrative claiming that they are Lapplanders, the actual original people of northern Finland and that the Sámi people are immigrants from Norway. Later on, the strategy of these groups changed, and they now claim they are Sámi people, so-called non-status Sámi people. These narratives hinder the Sámi parliament’s work and make the larger audience's picture of everything even more blurred and unclear. This also connects to why the renewal of the Sámi parliament act has not gotten very far yet.”

Previously this year, you visited New York to participate in the Conflicting Relations program, and now this is your second time here this year. What is your experience of New York as a visiting artist?

“The last time I was here in March, it was cold and rainy, which was nice in its own way. Now it’s warm and summer, so I’m getting both sides of New York. But you know, New York is big, and there is always too little time. It’s amazing to come here, especially as an artist, to be able to travel far and wide and meet many people in different parts of the world.

At the same time, it makes me think of the situation our world is in with climate change and global warming. As a representative of indigenous culture and community, it worries me a lot because I fight for our culture, our lands, and our environment. But at the end of the day, though, I also realize that we are all in the same boat, with this threat of the climate crisis looming over all of us, not only indigenous people.

But in general, I’ve been meeting with many interesting people, like representatives of indigenous communities in Canada and the US, which have been very inspiring and relevant to my research, broadening my perspective.”

What happens next for you after Together Again?

“Besides continuing to work on this topic of settler-colonial attempts at claiming Indigenous identity, which is a topic one could probably research for years, I am also continuing to work on the topic of indigenous relationships with nature. I am also currently participating in the Helsinki Biennial, and later in November, I will be exhibiting my work at the Kairo Biennial. I have a couple of new things brewing for next year too.”

To see more of Matti and his work, you can follow his Instagram here and the FCINY’s channels here.

Together Again is an expansive art project fostering gatherings, workshops, intercultural dialogues and socially engaged art, organized by the Finnish Academic and Cultural Institutes across the world. Together Again presents six community-based works to audiences in Amsterdam, Brussels, Helsinki, London, Madrid, New York, Oslo, Paris, and Porto, as well as online. The project takes place throughout 2023 and culminates in a one-day festival held in Helsinki, Finland, as well as online, on the 8th of September 2023. Click here to read more and click here to sign up for the festival.

Interview by: Nela Silfverberg