"I love Gáivuotna"

”I love Gáivuotna" is being shown during the Riddu Riđđu festival this year from July 9 to 13.The art exhibitors are seven young art students from the art academy in Tromsø.

This is the first year that there has been an art academy in Tromsø. These students are pioneers and reflect an artistic freedom quite familiar to us here at Riddu Riđđu. They represent much of what Riddu Riđđu stands for by being different and daring and by focusing on the people, the place and the landscape in the North.

This exhibition shows different approaches. And for Riddu  Riđđu, it's a chance to show the importance of seeing art as equal and on the same standing as other art forms, such as music, dance, theatre and film.
The art explored for the audience during the festival is a direct result of the new collaboration established between Riddu Riddu and the art academy, and we are very pleased that the results produced by these young artists meet our expectations and more.

The art academy worked to develop the young students and their art, by giving them a project to develop the connection between place, identity and ecology. To give the students a sense of place and closeness to their assignment, they spent seven weeks at Gáivuotna/Kåfjord in the north of Troms County. 
During their stay, they learned about duodji (Saami arts and craft), they were introduced to history of this place and how the Sea Saami people live today.

The work includes different genres, from ink sketches and to video installations. The art ranges from the specific and concrete, as in ”Sjit helvedes kåken," where we see how a dilapidated house in Manndalen, which has a quite special history,  is transformed by the artist's eye to the more abstract ink sketch, ”Run, Lola, run”, where the themes are the limits and borders between people, land and the world.

What has given the artist the most inspiration? Ane, one of the young art students: "I get inspired by the meeting between people and the distance which occurred in these meetings. The limits which are present between people who don`t know each other well may be difficult to cross. When we came to Kåfjord, we came from the outside and we were supposed to understand the people. In this, we experienced a distance. The limits in Kåfjord between the people are already fragmented. All this limits are noticeable in my sketches."

The new works of art are placed inside and outside the festival area. By placing the art at new and unexpected spots, we hope to both provoke and stimulate viewers. We expect the reactions to be many and varied, since those who visit the festival have different reasons to do so.

The opening of the art exhibition is scheduled for Thursday at 14:00 pm at the Aja/Lávdi
The art pieces represent an outsider's view and say something about identity and locality. ” I love Gáivuotna” may open more doors, for the art itself and for people who are confronted with it.
The seven artists are:

• Nicolas Woche: Urskog
• Margrethe Pettersen: Constructed life
• Geir Backe Altern:  Sjit helvedes kåken
• Eva La Cour:  Locality is Imaginary
• Heidi-Anett Haugen:”I dream about the day when all children who are born are wanted, all men and woman are equal, and sexuality is an expression for love, passion and tenderness”.
• Ane Elene Johansen: Løp, Lola, løp
• Espen Justdal: Hei Kåfjord