it takes the earth to make a feather fall

Pachinko is pleased to present it takes the earth to make a feather fall, an exhibition composed by niilas helander.

“Where does queer Sámi art begin, and with which actors? I am, of course, not only referring to humans; non-human cultures also play a role in many Sámi people’s lives and understanding of the world. What art is, who has made it, and for what purpose becomes something quite different within such a framework compared to what the classical Western art historical tradition can offer. As the poet Anna Mendelssohn once wrote in a poem: “Framing is a sociopolitical act.” I will therefore take a different methodology as my starting point when I put together a chapter on queer Sámi art for this exhibition.

Nils-Aslak Valkepää (or Áillohaš, as he was also known), Arnhild Haagensen, Gjert Rognli, and Ingrid Frivold are the individuals who drew me to the work for this exhibition. Their works — sculptures, photographs, music, the sound of drums, words, and the sound of words, tattoos and shamanism, stones that can fly, northern lights, tradition, renewal, and queer Sámi bodies — are all elements that, in addition to sacred mountains and stones, take up space in this small museum exhibition of 6 square meters. From the art they have created, I have spun new ideas about gravity, spirituality, elegance, falling, cosmic movement, gift culture, identity, and responsibility. Humanity is only one part of the universe and must therefore not be placed at its center. I believe this latter point is a common thread running through all these artistic practices, where the willingness to explore that which is greater than humanity stands out as a central force.

Sacred mountains, stones, and places have taught us much about what happens when one breaks the contract between humans and nature — the contract you signed when you were born. We have relatives in the animal and plant kingdoms and belong to a web of relationships that extends far beyond the individual. It is not only humans who can create meaning. Non-human life forms also engage in aesthetic and ethical pleasures. Or, to put it another way: What makes you believe that only humans can organize life according to their own needs? Here we must listen to the phonetics of proximity, to that which brings us closer to the earth and to one another.

- niilas”

The exhibition is be accompanied by the publication over kart vi fortsatt ikke har funnet opp with poems by niilas helander.