Historjá – Stygn för Sapmí / Historjá – Stitches from Sapmí

The artwork is almost 24 metres long. Displayed at the Documenta 14 in 2017, it brought overnight renown to its creator, Britta Marakatt-Labba. The hand-embroidered tapestry is a panorama of Sámi history and tradition. Titled “Historjá”, it is haunting evidence of how the artist’s deep roots in the Sámi culture inspire her work. Born in a simple lavvu, or tent, in the remote mountains of Scandinavia, she was re-born as an indefatigable fighter when she was sent to a boarding school where they forced her to adopt Swedish as her mother tongue. She fought – against assimilation, against the land-grabbing by companies that, in their lust for ore, destroyed the Sámi’s sacred sites. She has retained her belief in the animism of nature and translates formative events in her life into the richly-symbolic stylistic idiom of her art. Giving up is not an option. Certainly not in the face of the next challenge – climate change, which threatens the livelihood of the Sámi people.