ST IVES, BRITAIN The management of the Tate museum network, which focuses on contemporary art, does not spare the artist praise Outi Pieskiwhose magical fringe installations have captivated audiences and art critics in Britain.
– In our opinion, Outi is one of the most powerful and interesting contemporary artists in the world, says the director of Tate St Ives Anne Barlow.
Pieski’s works have been exhibited for the past few months at the Tate St Ives art museum. Barlow chose Pieski’s exhibition for the museum and even went to meet him at Utsjoki.
At the end of the exhibition, the world-famous museum chain has chosen two of Pieski’s works for its permanent collection. They are spatial works called Guržot ja guovvsat / Spell on You and Skábmavuođđu / Spell on Me. Access to Tate’s collection is always a sign for artists.
– This is the first time that a Sámi artist has entered Tate’s permanent collection. We are extremely excited about it. It means that in addition to a solo exhibition, works can be shown in all four Tate museums in Britain, says Barlow.
According to him, the museum also plans to acquire more Sámi works.
visited the last weekend of Outi Pieski’s exhibition in St Ives, which opened in February. Many people came to see the colorful works. In addition to well-known spatial works, his paintings were on display.
According to Barlow, in addition to the artistic power of Pieski’s works, the topicality of Sámi issues also influenced the choice.
– The works speak more broadly about environmental issues and land rights, which are critically important issues in today’s world, Barlow says.
Sámi artist Jalvvi Niillas Holmberg also drew the audience to listen to the songs. There were also other Sámi cultural influencers from the Nordic countries speaking about the position of the Sámi people.
Tate gives a voice to the Sámi people
Outi Pieski considers Tate’s new line to be an important gesture that expands awareness of the conditions of the Sámi people to a global level.
– This is clearly the highlight of my career. I find it special that they are committed to acquiring art from the indigenous peoples of the Arctic regions for their collections, Pieski admires.
Cooperation with Pieski is part of the new strategy of the Tate art museums network.
The museum now brings the art of marginalized indigenous peoples into the mainstream, because the people’s conditions and problems it presents reflect global issues.
– We notice that the thinking of indigenous peoples guides the current global art field. We need to reflect that in our international collection, Director of Britain’s Tate Museums Network Maria Balshaw explained to .
Balshaw arrived in person to greet Pieski at St Ives.
According to Balshaw, the participation of galleries in stimulating discussion is the spirit of the times, which is also reflected in the most significant event of contemporary art currently underway, the Venice Biennale.
Tate wants to amplify voices that cannot be heard in politics and the media.
– In my opinion, indigenous artists should lead the discussion about rights related to culture and land, as well as actions against climate change. As a museum of contemporary art, we can help share these conversations with the public, Balshaw tells .
See in the video how Outi Pieski describes his spatial works:
The green transition is colonialism
In Outi Pieski’s exhibition, the audience has heard about the problems faced by the Sámi people. Country borders have separated the Sámi people in the Nordic countries and Russia.
The Sámi are not asked about mining projects. Outi Pieski talks, among other things, about the still ongoing colonialism in the Nordic countries.
– Under the guise of the green transition, the aim is to take over Sami lands by establishing, for example, huge wind farms in reindeer husbandry areas, Pieski states.
Maria Balshaw praises Pieski’s work and hopes that people in Finland will be proud of its entry into the global collection.
– It is exceptionally powerful and beautiful. It shows a different way of understanding the universe and humanity’s place in it, he says.
The work was created in Britain
From London, the Tate Museum in St Ives is the most distant of the four Tate exhibition spaces in Britain. It is located in the southwestern tip of Britain, in Cornwall.
However, the museum is remarkable. It was born in St Ives because the seaside town attracted artists with its unique light.
The museum wants visiting artists to connect with St Ives.
Outi Pieski created another of the fringe works that ended up in the Tate collections in St Ives, where he spent time in residency before his exhibition.
The artist describes that the lights of both the north and St Ives shine in the works.
– They form, as it were, a spiritual forest, into which the viewer can go and experience it as if bodily, says Pieski.
– In the same way as if each of us has a place in the forest or in nature that is important to us, where we can reflect our own experiences, the artist continues.
The British Museum wants the horned cap back
In his exhibition, Pieski also highlighted the importance of returning Sámi objects, repatriation.
The exhibition featured, among other things Andy Warhol a direction-bowing piece of Sámi horn laws.
Pieski says that he and the researcher will present the work Eeva-Kristiina Nylanderin horn caps found, which are kept in European museums.
Horned caps disappeared from Lapland at the end of the 19th century, when the old rulers considered them to be manifestations of the devil.
One of the laws is in London in the British Museum. Pieski and Nylander asked the museum to borrow a cap for the exhibition.
The museum refused, citing that the request made eight months before the start of the exhibition was too late. The horn cap is lying in the museum’s storage. It’s not even on display.
– It tells about how indigenous peoples do not have access to their own cultural heritage, Pieski reflects on the conversation with the museum.
Pieski believes that with the strengthening of the voice of the indigenous peoples, the opportunity to get a vital cultural heritage, own history will be strengthened again.
– It is inevitable that finally these so-called museums of the world, such as the British Museum or the Humboldt Forum in Germany, will have to or will be allowed to participate in the return of objects, says Pieski.