Jack Bell Gallery exhibits, represents and champions contemporary artists from around the world.
25/09/2024
Anders Sunna
The Drumbeat of Noaidi
Opening Reception: Tuesday 8 October, 6 - 8 pm in the presence of the artist
Exhibition: Wednesday 9 October – Friday 1 November
We are delighted to present an exhibition of new work by Anders Sunna. This is the artist’s first solo show in the UK.
“When you grow up with a conflict and are in the middle of it, it becomes your life and everyday life. The abnormal simply becomes something normal.”
Anders Sunna is a member of the indigenous Sámi peoples who inhabit the region of Sápmi, which today encompasses large northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola Peninsula, Russia.
Sunna’s work chronicles the ongoing persecution of the Sámi people by the Swedish authorities and his family’s struggle for the right to practice reindeer husbandry following the Swedish Government’s introduction of the 1971 Reindeer Act. Subsequently declared illegal but written into the constitution, this Act forced the Sámi people to adhere to state regulations regarding reindeer herding and culling and to herd reindeer on behalf of Swedish property owners without compensation. Sunna’s family immediately resisted this affront to their cultural heritage and the substantial financial fallout, igniting a conflict with the authorities and other Sámi that continues to this day. In a double betrayal, Sunna and many other Sámi fighting for justice feel the Sámi Parliament – politically subordinate to the Swedish state – has done little to protect them.
