WE ARE STILL HERE (Official) - Sofia Jannok feat. Anders Sunna
Intro (Translation of Excerpts from the State Attorney’s intervention during the hearing in the court case between the Sámi reindeer herding community Girjas - from whence Sofia Jannok’s grandmother came - and the Swedish State. Gällivare Lapland District Court, June, 2015.):
“From the onset on, it is of importance to state that: The Sámi have not been subjected to discrimination by the State.” ”The question then is what is meant by the concept of ethnicity, if it is to be claimed that the Sámi is an ethnic group. And then it becomes clear that ethnicity as a concept is a highly debated one.” ”The ethnic aspect has been of no relevance from a historic point of view, when a distinction was made between nomads, in other words Lapps, and settlers.”
“[...] The entire archaeological evidence put forward by the Sámi reindeer herding community is of no relevance to the case in question.” ”The State consistently disputes the claim that the Sámi have been present in the area on a large scale basis [...] before the 17th century.”
one more music video from the sami music artist Sofia Jannok. This one is produced in cooperation with the sami visual art artist Anders Sunna, who is the one who make the art pieces in the video.
This video is made in response to the colonial and racist way the State Attorney’s behaved during the hearing in the court case between the Sámi reindeer herding community Girjas and the Swedish State.
The l-word used by the State Attorney during the case is a slur towards sami people, which should not be used. that it were constantly said by the lawyers of the swedish state during the court trial, were just a part of the very colonial language used by the the swedish state during the trial.
the Swedish State were critized by several sami rights fighters for how the State still used the very same colonial language that has been historically, and as the sami rights fighters pointed out, is still in use by the Swedish State when they speak to and about the sami people and their rights.
An example of this criticism of the Swedish States behaviour during the trial is in this debate newspaper article with the title is “Rasbiologiskt språkbruk i statens rättsprocess mot sameby”- translation “the language of race biology is used by the Swedish States during their trial against a Sámi reindeer herding community”. click for link
lyrics under read more
Kill the bison, dig out the reindeer’s land
Gold and iron, blood on greedy hands
Drown the lávvu, burn the tipi down
We raise new ones, survivors we are now
We are still here, we are still here
We are still here, we are still here 100 years back in the USA
Kulttuuriyhdistys Kulttuuribingo kutsui kuvataiteilija Anders Sunnan tekemään seinämaalauksen Kansan Tahdon -talon päätyseinään, Mäkelininkatu 29, Ouluun. Rakennuksessa toimii edelleen Kansan Tahto -lehden toimitus, lehden tunnetuimman päätoimittajan, Yrjö Mäkelinin mukaan nimetyllä kadulla. Niilo Helanderin säätiö myönsi projektiin apurahan keväällä 2016.
Ruotsalainen kuvataiteilija Anders Sunna (s.1985) asuu ja työskentelee Ruotsin Jokkmokissa. Hän on valmistunut kuvataiteilijaksi Konstfackin taideteollisesta korkeakoulusta Tukholmasta vuonna 2009. Sunna on nykytaiteilija, joka työskentelee useiden välineiden ja taiteen menetelmien kanssa idealähtöisesti. Hän on tullut tunnetuksi kantaaottavista teoksistaan, jotka nostavat esille epäkohtia liittyen saamelaisten asemaan. Sunnan teokset ovat saaneet viime vuosina laajaa huomiota Pohjoismaissa.
Kansan Tahto -seinämaalauksen tarkoituksena on Kulttuuriyhdistys Kulttuuribingon tavoitteiden mukaan tuoda taide lähemmäs ihmistä. Yksilön ja yhteisön vapaus, paikalliskulttuuri ja vaihtoehtoisuus ovat arvoja, jotka yhdistävät Kulttuuriyhdistys Kulttuuribingoa ja Anders Sunnan taidetta. Nämä arvot näkyvät myös Kansan Tahto -seinämaalauksessa.
Taiteilija: Anders Sunna
Tuottajat: Kulttuuriyhdistys Kulttuuribingo; Tiina Pehkonen, Taija Jyrkäs
Anders Sunna is a wonderful human being and one of my greatest inspirations when it comes to my own creative production. As far as I am concerned, he is one of Sápmi's most important artists at the moment.
