SPIRIT LAND/VUOIŊŊALAŠ EANADAT
Spirit Land/Vuoiŋŋalaš Eanadat is a practice-based transdisciplinary artistic research project around animated Sámi landscapes. It is an act of decolonisation in a hybrid form, composed of textile art, music, and theology. Three cosmological spheres in traditional Sámi mythology – Jabbmeájjmo/Underworld, Eana/Earth, and Albmi/Heaven – are represented by monumental weavings, here set to music. Threads, different musical instruments, voices, sung and spoken words interact in a temporal cyclical performance.
Spirit Land/Vuoiŋŋalaš Eanadat can be seen as an act of reconciliation between the Sámi and Nordic peoples. The Sámi spiritual historiography, which has been silenced, both past and present, is here given voice and incorporated into the church space of Turku Cathedral. What was banned and hidden is now invited and embraced. The voices of the landscapes are heard anew, restored and brought to life, but also transformed into something hitherto unknown. Matter is hereby given spirit and life. The restoration process has begun.
Spirit Land/Vuoiŋŋalaš Eanadat is part of the transdisciplinary research project Praxis of Social Imaginaries, Åbo Akademi University, Finland, and is a collaboration between textile artist and archaeologist Emma Göransson Almroth, Sweden, and musician, composer and theologian Frank Berger, Finland.
Participants: Frank Berger (Hurdy Gurdy and vocals), Carolina Bjon (cello), Emma Göransson Almroth (jojk), Minna Hokka (overtone flute), Olli Liljeström (percussion), Marianne Maans (violin), Kari Mäkiranta (keyboard), Nina Nordvall Vahlberg (jojk and drum).
After the performance, a dialogue session will be held by TD Laura Hellsten where she will interview the artists and performers Frank Berger, Emma Göransson Almroth, and Nina Nordvall Vahlberg about creating and participating in the Spirit Land project. The dialogue session asks questions about the role of transdisciplinary research in approaching historical colonial wounds and how art can be part of reconciliation processes.
Performers
Emma Göransson Almroth is Swedish/Sami artist MFA, archaeologist PhD, and curator whose work investigates natural, cultural, and spiritual landscapes over time. Her art has a strong sense of materiality, with references to archaeology and architecture. She primarily works with textile techniques and materials but also with printing.
Frank Berger is a composer, singer, vocal coach, theologian, musician, and multi-disciplinary artist. He has performed in over 25 staged productions in opera, musical theatre, and church music. As a dramatic baritone, he has recently developed into an interpreter of the demanding heldenbaritone opera repertoire. As an instrumentalist and folk musician, he plays the hurdy-gurdy, an unusual medieval violin instrument. Berger has won two composition competitions in Finland and has written music for choirs, folk ensembles, and the theatre stage. His artistic approach is drawn to cross-genre expressions, bold drama, and strong, harmonically rooted melodies.
Nina Nordvall Vahlberg is a Sámi musician, composer and artist based in Jokkmokk, Swedish Sápmi.
They have composed music for their own productions with the yoik, accordion, and various instruments in different genres, as well as music for theatre, dance performances, and film/documentaries through the years. Nina’s work is often based on traditional Sámi singing, the Sámi drum, and different aspects of environmental work, with a touch of folk music that can be heard, for example, in the choir piece “Musik till Gammelskogen – Music for People and Trees” or the documentary films “Storskogen Karatj- Råvvåive” and “Drums and Drones” by Ignacio Acosta. Nina has worked with handicraft, music, and art since childhood, and also recently studied duodji, (Sámi handicraft) at Sámi Åhpadusguovdásj. You can see some of Nina’s work at the “VUOVDEK (a forest Sámi person) – We Live Among Trees” exhibition at the “Myggholkens väntrum” bookshop during the 2025 winter market in Jokkmokk. In addition, Nina has arranged workshops and lectures on the yoik, the Sámi drum, Swedish folk music, and traditional dances.