At the end of January 2021, we visited Sven Harrys and saw, among many other things, some of the embroidery work of Britta Marakatt-Labba. Today I visited the Moderna Museet to see her exhibition, Where Every Stitch Breathes. I thought the works we saw back in 2021 were amazing and today only cemented my opinion. This exhibition is a must-see.

Having seen her remarkable work and listened to the interview that precedes the exhibition, I was both amazed and baffled enough to buy the catalogue. It’s pretty obvious why I was amazed. The reason I was baffled was because of one aspect of her Sámi stance.
Okay, she is Sámi and, quite rightly, stands up for her own culture both artistically and politically. Her works that deal with some pretty awful events are emotive and powerful. However, the thing I can’t get around is how she claimed that the Sámi protect nature; that they are part of nature and always have been.
When Mirinda was attending uni recently, one of her essays concerned the eradication of the wolf in Sweden. She discovered that the Sámi had killed off the wolf because they were killing off the reindeer. The wolf route across the top of Sápmi originally stretched from Russia to Norway and went straight through the Sámi herding grounds.
That is not learning to live with nature, that is destroying one aspect of it to suit your own needs.
And there is another thing that baffles me. Rather than herd wild reindeer, which they had done for centuries before, the Sámi decided it was easier if they domesticated them and then kill off the wild ones that remained. How is that living with nature?

I understand the awful treatment the Sámi have endured by so-called civilisation over the years and have no real right to an opinion however, I remain baffled. Who speaks for the wolf? Who stands with the wild reindeer? Both of these no longer exist while the Sámi does. Is that living with nature?
To quote the exhibition brochure: “In the Sámi worldview, the connection between animals and humans is so strong that they become one on a spiritual level, changing shape and form.” Does that mean the wolf and the wild reindeer still, sort of exist, in some otherworld dimension and, therefore, to the Sámi, they are still around?
None of that really matters when viewing the works in isolation; when the political is removed and the beauty stands alone. The needlework is superb, and the images created through the threads are exquisite.
And, of course, there are the atrocities she depicts, The Crows being one in particular.

The piece depicts the moment in 1981 during the Alta River protests when 600 Norwegian police confronted a group of peaceful protesters. The Norwegian Government had decided to dam the river and the Sámi disagreed. Marakatt-Labba was among the protesters and described the police as resembling crows and depicted them accordingly.
Possibly the crowning achievement of her artistry is the 24-metre-long Historjá, which tells the story of the Sámi from the earliest times up until the Kautokeino uprising of 1852. It even includes the aftermath of the beheadings.
It is an amazing piece which reminded me of the Bayeux Tapestry.
But, of course, I had to have a favourite piece and, in this exhibition it was particularly difficult to pick just one. However, I tossed my options into the air and debated with myself the particular merits of each and, finally, settled on this one:

This is real life; this is the link between Sami and nature.