Britta Marakatt-Labba

The Move

The Door

Fireplace Stones (in sámi language Arran)

Sailcloth, wood, embroidery, stones, 2017

Marakatt-Labba is presenting a project consisting of three works dedicated to the movements of Kiruna city: a textile embroidered on old, creased sailcloth; the door of a traditional Sámi lavvu home in repainted and embroidered textile; and fire place stones, which in a lavvu occupy the main area and provide the necessary warmth. Place and location are very important to the Sámi people – that’s why each of the stones features an engraving of a different place. The Sámi people have always lived in harmony with nature, and when moving will return all of their building materials to nature. Only the stones stay, and after a while they are taken over by moss. These three works address the mining industry in northern Sweden, and form a reflection on Scandinavian colonialism and the fate of indigenous identities. 

Artist's bio

The Swedish Sámi artist Britta Marakatt-Labba (b. 1951, Idivuoma, Sweden) lives in Övre Soppero, Kiruna Municipality, Sweden. Her works mainly consist of textile embroidery, watercolour paintings and lithographs, but she has also illustrated books and worked as a costume and set designer. Her images are miniature worlds created with needle and thread, and contain scenes from everyday life, political reflections and stories about Sámi culture and history. Along with Hans Ragnar Mathisen and Synnøve Persen, she was part of the Sámi Artist Group, which came together in the late 1970s. Their artistic and political project was to reclaim the human worth and pride of indigenous peoples and to build a nation: Sámi.