The seminar series have been conceived in collaboration with Gunvor Guttorm, artist and Professor in duodji, who is also our first invited guest. Through the seminars Kiruna will be introduced from a Sámi perspective by inviting Sámi artists and thinkers to share their insights. These sessions will be valuable both as part of the Ways of Knowing (in Artistic Research) doctoral course at SKH and as stand-alone preparatory discussions for SAAR 2025 participants. In addition to the SAAR doctoral students and supervisors, all SKH doctoral students are invited to join. 

Duddjon and its research

7 March 2025, 10:00–12:00 CET 

Gunvor Guttorm is a distinguished Sámi artist and scholar specializing in *duodji*—Sámi arts and crafts, traditional art, and applied art. She serves as a professor at the Sámi University of Applied Sciences in Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino, Norway, where she was also rector from 2015 to 2019. Recent years she has worked with projects like AIDA (Arctic Indigenous Design Archives), where the focus was research through duddjon (making). The last two years she has worked with Maori women about baby vessels. Her research focuses on cultural expressions within Sámi and Indigenous societies, emphasizing the contemporary context of duodji.

Suggested readings:

Joar Nango, Taqralik Partrigde, Jocelyn Piirainen, Rafico Ruiz (eds.) 2024: Ruovttu Guvlui/Towards Home - Inuit & Sámi Placemaking, Valiz (Amsterdam) x Canadian Centre for Architecture (Montreal) 

Guttorm, Gunvor 2015: “Contemporary Duodji - a personal experience in understanding traditions” in Timo Jokela, Glen Coutts (eds.) Relate North Art, Heritage  Identity. Rovaniemi, Lapland University Press. 60- 76.   

Guttorm, Gunvor 2017: The Power of Natural materials and Environments in Contemporary Duodji