Performance Studies in Sápmi: 28 and 29 June

Performance Studies in Sápmi is a performance art festival dedicated to exploring embodied practices, Indigenous perspectives, and site-responsive works in the context of Sápmi. The festival brings together artists working across performance, movement, and interdisciplinary practices to engage with cultural heritage, identity, and place.The festival is held at the City Museum in Bodø June 28th and 29th.

28 June — Performance program 13.00–18.00

Marija Griniuk Performance Art Techno Youth is a performance work created in collaboration with young performance artists from Bodø , where the artists explore the relationship between history, tradition and technology. Supported by SpareBank 1 Nord-Norge.

Johan Sara Jr. and Katarina Skår Lisa Collaborative performance. Johan Sara Jr. has a close connection to the sea and coastal life. Katarina Skår Lisa has Maritime Sami roots from Sør-Varanger and conveys her Sami heritage through dance.

Elin Kåven Performance. Elin Kåven is an award-winning yoiker and artist from Karasjok, known for blending Sami mythology and tradition with contemporary musical expression. In this concert she performs yoikers with a drum.

Kurt Johannessen Performance «Landscape 9». Kurt Johannessen (b. 1960) has worked with performance, books, video and installation since the early 1980s. He presents a new performance work on Nordlandsmuseet .

Annette Arlander Performance "Birch to Birch". As a continuation of previous works, Annette Arlander will perform greetings from a birch in Helsinki to birches in Bodø .

Marit Bringedal Anti and Greta Balčiūnaitė Collaborative performance in which the artists dress as mythological beings inspired by their respective cultures and explore how cultural differences shape notions of the mythical.

Joana Gelažytė Performance «The Hearth of Memory» is a ritual exploration of shared cultural heritage. Joana Gelažytė is a performance artist based in Oslo.

29 June — Seminar program 10.00–14.00

Presentations of book chapters for the upcoming publication Liveness and Performance in Museums . Feedback facilitated by Philip Auslander.

Theresa Thuv PhD candidate at Nord University. Presents reflections from 12 years of collaboration with Løp farm.

Philip Auslander Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Presents the chapter "The Musealization of Performance Art" from his upcoming publication.

Kurt Johannessen "About the present and the past". Kurt Johannessen talks about his own work in museums and sees it in the context of the experiences from the project About Something.

29 June — Workshop 15:00–18:00

Elin Kåven — Basic yoik

This yoik course is for anyone who wants to understand the fundamentals of yoik. What is yoik, where is it practiced, how was it traditionally used, and how can one approach yoik with respect for Sami culture?

The course is three hours long and covers the history and elements of the yoik, practicing traditional yoiks and various vocal technique approaches, as well as tips on how to yoik yourself. No prior knowledge is required.

Tickets are available at the City Museum in Bodø and Fticket.

Performance Studies in Sápmi part II 2026 Performance seminar during Bodø Biennale, September 12, 11:00–15:00 Bodø City Museum, Prinsens gate 116, Bodø