Three-Legged Trouser Work (for Keith) - Part 1, Mark Roberts

Mark Roberts, an artist and arts mediator from England based in Lapland (Finland), talks about his connection to the North in an interview with Hilde Methi. Mark works with video and photography. He is interested in social and political issues that are able to be experienced and understood by a global population, in the human condition, and in the effects of power upon the individual.

HM: Do you identify yourself with Nordic/Barents/Arctic/Lapland? And what would you identify most with?
MR: There is a tendency here (in Northern Finland) for artists to identify with the region. This is something I find particularly hard to come to terms with or to share. I often get irritated with the focus of the arts here on nature, and specifically reindeer. It's very hard to get a foot in. Nearly all our funding, for example, has come from the south or from national institutions.

I don't really identify myself with any particular place or region. In a recent work I took three photos of myself holding three placards that said “I'm a real Lapland artist”, “I'm a real Finnish artist”, and “I'm a real British artist”. I could also have held one saying “I'm a real Nordic artist”. I don't feel the need to identify myself with a place. I would find that it limited me. In essence, I don't identify myself with the idea of the “Lapland Artist”, because from my perspective it is limiting geographically and inspirationally. I'm a member of the Lapland Artist's Association, but I don't really participate in anything they do because (for me) they focus too much on Lapland. There is very little openness and discussion. People clutch tightly to their positions and are easily threatened. You may think I'm being dramatic but it's what I've experienced. I find it very frustrating and difficult. Not everyone is like that of course, and I think Pikene på Broen are already cooperating with the people who are more open-minded.

HM: Wouldn’t it be obvious to identify with Lapland, since you live and work there? To identify, you should engage and participate more in the art and intellectual life of Lapland.
MR: I think I do engage in the artistic and intellectual life of Rovaniemi, but you are right that my participation is limited because the opportunities and possibilities are very limited. As I said, it's very difficult to get my foot in the door here. It’s getting better, but I would like to be involved more. But I find that the attitudes here are often not conducive to cooperation.

HM: What about advantages. What do you find that are the advantages of being in Lapland?
MR: As for advantages, for me the advantages are the other countries that surround Finland. There are more opportunities to work in Norway and to a lesser extent (for me at least) Russia and Sweden. I feel that the artistic climate in Norway is more active, and again from my perspective, more interested in my work than northern Finland. I am always eager to participate in projects in Norway, Sweden and Russia. Perhaps it is because I don't have to know the system there or deal on an everyday basis with the difficulties that no doubt exist there also.

Another advantage I've found with Kaiku is that people/artists are very interested in coming to the region because of its exotic location. To perform on the Arctic circle (or above it) is something special.

My role as a 'cultural mediator' brings out another aspect of my approach. With Kaiku and Magneetti, I do focus on arts from the north. It's important for me to promote and raise awareness of people's activities in this region (and I'm talking now about the entire northern Nordic region). I believe there are a lot of talented people working here – artists, musicians, writers etc. – and it's important that they have the opportunity to reach a larger audience. However, the part of me that has a problem with reindeer art still surfaces. I'm not interested in promoting art about bears and reindeer. Kaiku promotes a wide range of music that pushes the limits of the clichéd expectations that many people (here at least) have of the region.

Magneetti on the other hand wants to promote and encourage challenging contemporary art that is relevant to a much larger area and audience. Even though we might live in a geographical periphery, we are still connected to the rest of the world, and the rest of the world is connected to us. The internet is a remarkable facilitator in making our presence here known elsewhere.”

Sometimes a Russian trawler rests for years in the harbour of Kirkenes. Morten Torgersrud, one of the artists in Kirkenes, is an expert on one of these trawlers – “Obolon”. He took this image of “Obolon” on its last journey to India, to be demolished by little hands, before it ended up as nails. His friend used some of them to make music. "History Never Repeats" was part of an art installation by Helena Wikstrøm.

As an art mediator in Pikene på Broen, I sometimes get asked the question whether it is easier to work with art here, to get artists to come or to get attention, because of the area with the border with Russia, the multiculturalism, the contrasts, the diversity, the economic potentials, the political situation, the midnight sun, and so on. The place and situation is attractive in itself, to some artists, journalists and academics. Some artists living elsewhere keep coming back, sending suggestions of artists or proposing topics that would be relevant and interesting to discuss here.

I am here because I find it interesting, but I think it can be just as interesting wherever you are. I think generally it is a question of one’s interests and how you are able to engage in your surroundings, how you can contribute and take advantage of possibilities that exist.