© Kristin Taarnesvik

One of Kristin Taarnesvik’s posters shows a woman dressed in a Sàmi “kofte”. In the background we see the mountainous landscape and above her, the text “Mein Kampf”.

By making the connection to the dramatic consequences of national romanticism, the image throws up questions like: how far do we go in cultivating our roots and cultural symbols? In the artists own words: “from national romanticism to Mein Kampf is not very far.” At the same time the images are pointing towards the struggle of the Sàmi people, a struggle to keep the culture and the language, and a struggle that is also that of the artists and the individuals trying to navigate a landscape that is full of stereotypes and strong history. Kristin’s posters are based on still photographs from the Norwegian film about the Sàmi girl Laila, from the 1920s. The film is based on the book “Laila” by J.A. Friis.