A child in a swing.

Burl Boat Stone/Fijfere Vanás Geađgi

Artist: Joar Nango, Anders Rimpi
Curator: Åsa Bergdahl
City: Jokkmokk
Category: Permanent art, Permanent konst
HomeExplore the artArt projectsBurl Boat Stone/Fijfere Vanás Geađgi

A large rock, a birch burl and an old wooden boat that speak Sami have entered the Giella Preschool in Jokkmokk. Artists Anders Rimpi and Joar Nango have created spaces in which Sami language, culture and traditions can stimulate the children’s imagination and aid their linguistic development.

A child in a swing.
Image 1 of 7. A swing made by birch.
Small boy on a stone in front of a kindergarten.
Image 2 of 7. The stone has a built in speaker, which reads out a fairy tale.
A yard at a kindergarten with a wooden boat piled on poles and a small shed also made by wood.
Image 3 of 7. The artwork Vril is comprised by a shed, a boat and a swing.
Child standing under a wooden boat piled on poles. A grown up is sitting next to the boat
Image 4 of 7. The wooden boat on the kindergraten Giella in Jokkmokk.
Two men in the wood cutting a tree.
Image 5 of 7. The artist Joar Nango and his assistant Magnus Tuolja is cutting a birchtree in the wood.
Man in red cap with his hand on a part of a birch tree.
Image 6 of 7. Magnus Toulja displays parts of the birchtree, which will be one part of the artwork.
View over the Jokkmokk landscape with loots of pine trees, a lake, and a group of building.
Image 7 of 7. View over Jokkmokk.

Joar Nango and Anders Rimpi have balanced the practical needs of everyday life with their site-specific artwork. For the work Fijfere Vanás Geađgi (Burl Boat Stone), they have created a njalla (a bear cache), employed the boat and the rock and interwoven the practical with the visual, with sound recordings and scents. The sounds in Fijfere Vanás Geađgi (Burl Boat Stone) lead us to the interface between physical and spiritual spaces. The focus is on Sami learning which is based on practical experience – and the practical experience will convey the theoretical foundation to the children.

Curator text by Åsa Bergdahl

A large rock, a birch burl and an old wooden boat that tell stories have entered the Giella Preschool in Jokkmokk. Artists Anders Rimpi and Joar Nango have created spaces in which Sami language, culture and traditions can stimulate the children’s imagination and aid their linguistic development. The sounds in Fijfere Vanás Geađgi (Burl Boat Stone) lead us to the interface between physical and spiritual spaces. In this context, tools can become a crucial part of life. Tools can be the space. In Sami tradition, tools are part of life and well cared for. They are made and perfected for a specific purpose. Some have disappeared throughout history; others live on. A a common thread in this approach is “to manage, to get on” – bierggit – to care for things and to recreate. In this sense, tools are as much practical, home and spaces, as well as physical rooms. Joar Nango and Anders Rimpi have balanced the practical needs of everyday life with their site-specific artwork. They have created a njalla (a bear cache), employed the boat and the rock and interwoven the practical with the visual, with sound recordings and scents.

ON GIELLA PRESCHOOL: In spring 2018 some 50 children moved into the newly constructed Giella Preschool in Jokkmokk after having outgrown their old premises. Giella Preschool works actively to promote Sami life and language and provide the children with a clear identity. The languages spoken are: Southern Sami, Lule Sami and Northern Sami, and the children are organised by language rather than age. Language is an important part of the Preschool’s pedagogical foundation.

Curator text: Åsa Bergdahl

On Joar Nango and Anders Rimpi

Joar Nango is a Sami artist and architect with a degree from NTNU in Norway. He is a co-founder of the FFB collective that works with temporary architecture in urban environments. Nango’s work explores the interface between architecture, design and visual art. He deals with issues of domestic identity, by, for example, examining the contradictions inherent in modern architecture. In Sápmi, he has realised detailed studies of Sami architecture. Joar Nango has participated in solo and group exhibitions in Europe, the United States and Canada.

Anders Rimpi is a Sami sound artist, composer, singer and mother-tongue language teacher in Lule Sami. As a composer he has collaborated with various venues in Sápmi and Sweden, including Giron Sámi teáhter, Norrlandsoperan, Hålogaland Teater (Tromsø), Regionteater väst and several venues in the area of Gothenburg. In addition to his own artworks, he has created sound and music works for dance, art, film and theatre.

Find the artwork

Giella förskola i Jokkmokk