What are the mechanics behind history writing? Who tells the story, and how? What consequences do the selection processes have on our self image? How can what has been omitted be represented? History writing is often linked to territories and the building of nations. The romantic notion of one nation, one people, and one language was highly influential in the 18th century, and was embraced in the Nordic countries in the 19th century. This is the history which has been recounted to us ever since: We have been one people with one language for thousands of years.
Visual artist Sissel M Bergh and musician Frode Fjellheim aim to illuminate history from a different perspective, the Southern Sami one, through the art project Dalvedh. In the Southern Sami language the word dalvedh means something which has been gone for a long time, only to re-emerge. Bergh and Fjellheim unearth traces that have knowingly been removed, silenced or forgotten. Bergh initiated Dalvedh in 2009. She has created the visual part of the project and conducted the research. Musician and composer Fjellheim joined the project in 2011.
Dalvedh consists of video projections, sculpture, sound, light, and performance. The sound installation depicting an upside-down tree with the roots in the air references a part of Sami folklore. It could be hinting at a spiritual connection, but could also be summoning history – the roots of our current way of life. The videos show a collage of staged, historical, and recent interviews with a number of different researchers from the fields of history, archaeology, languages, and religious studies, as well as Southern Sami bearers of culture, local historians and preservers of cultural heritage. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to sit down at the research station and immerse themselves in books from the Southern Sami area, and have a look at research which previously has been out of public view. A lecture performance will also take place during the exhibit: a conversation held in a storytelling tradition, directed by Ada Jürgensen at Åarjelsaemien teatere – based on the actor’s personal experiences and research.
A sneak preview of Dalvedh was shown at the Southern Sami cultural centre Gaaltije in Östersund, Sweden. Trondheim kunstmuseum has the honour of showing the exhibition in its entirety for the first time, before it will go on tour to Galleri IKM, Oslo, in November 2014.