Launch of Relational Paths. Art Beyond Reconciliation. Ideas & Creations from Sápmi & Abya Yala

Relational Paths. Art Beyond Reconciliation. Ideas and Creations from Sápmi and Abya Yala is a result of a multi-year programme initiated by OCA – Office for Contemporary Art Norway, KORO – Public Art Norway and Sámiráđđi – the Saami Council.

Building on long-standing critiques of “reconciliation” as a reliable construct for confronting destructive colonial legacies on Indigenous communities, this new book proposes various modes of relational forms as a more productive framework for acknowledging history, confronting the present and considering new reparative futures. The collaboration and publication were prompted by but have no formal connection to the Norwegian Parliament’s establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2018.

“This publication explores how art, justice, and reconciliation can be understood through relationality. How Sámi and other Indigenous artists and intellectuals challenge, redefine and reject state-centred premises and processes of Truth and Reconciliation, but more importantly, propose ideas and creations centred in their own worldviews. It aims to build bridges and solidarity between Indigenous territories, communities and peoples, to encourage accountability among allies and institutions, and to mend relations with the non-human landscape.” —The editors of Relational Paths

Three events celebrate the launch of Relational Paths
OCA, KORO and the Saami Council present three events in collaboration with partners from Sápmi and Abya Yala.

In July, OCA arranged a two-day programme titled ‘Alternative Ways of Organising’ at Riddu Riđđu Festivála (Olmmáivággi, Sápmi). The programme included book presentation, film screening, workshops and conversations that brought to life key concepts of the publication for the festival audience. Colectivo Cherani, the political and artistic initiative organised by an intergenerational group, were represented in the four-day programme by Bethel Cucué, Giovanni Guerrero, Francisco Huaroco and Alain Silva; and Sámi artist Márjá Karlsen who partnered with Lara Okafor for open workshops.

In September, KORO will host the Oslo launch event that will take place at Samisk Hus and bring together contributors to the book, including the renowned Sámi artist Britta Marakatt-Labba, in a presentation of the project that will focus on art and public space. There will also be conversations around the Norwegian institutional and cultural field’s postures, responsibilities and possibilities in the wake of the delivery of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s report in 2023; using the relational proposition central to the research as a prompt for looking beyond what scholar Michelle Daigle has termed the “spectacle of reconciliation.”

In November, OCA and MUAC – Museo Universitario Arte Contemporáneo will host a programme revolving around three key concepts for the publication that are included in “Worlds in Words”, a glossary-like section in the middle of the publication, where language from Sápmi and Abya Yala come forth directly from contributors featured in the publication.

–Xanharisï ( P'urhépecha ) meaning to walk together, make community.
This conversation will generate reflections on different worldviews and ways of living together and creating community, as well as the importance of creating autonomous spaces, such as Riddu Riđđu Festivála, or the new agency NANU – Sámi Arts International.

–Jojtkuj'äjtë'n ( Ayutla Mixe ) literally meaning to have your guts centered, in equilibrium. 
In this conversation, we will be generating reflections about methodologies and ways of confronting and talking about Truth and Reconciliation processes in different geographies.

–Dåajmijes vuekie (Southern Sámi) is a Sámi aesthetic paradigm opposed to how “beauty” is understood in the Western world.
In this conversation, the notions of beauty and aesthetics will be addressed more specifically from a Sámi worldview, connecting with other similar perspectives in other communities.

With and by
Contributors: Christina Hætta, Rosa Chávez, Yásnaya Elena Gil and Eva Maria Fjellheim, Máret Ánne Sara, Colectivo Cherani by Alain Silva, Kissel Bravo Hernández and Bernardo Núñez; Pauliina Feodoroff, Joyce Rivas, Frederik Prost and Inga Wiktoria Påve, Ana Braconnier De León and Juan Esteban Calderón, Anders Sunna, Daniela Catrileo, Joar Nango, Britta Marakkat-Labba, Geir Tore Holm, Drew Snyder and Itzel Esquivel.

Ed.: Eva Maria Fjellheim, Itzel Esquivel and Drew Snyder

Design by Árvu

Publishers: OCA – Office for Contemporary Art Norway, KORO – Public Art Norway, Sámiráđđi – Saami Council and Temblores Publicaciones.