Rovaniemi | Fringe exhibition - art and crafts from the Arctic periphery

As part of the Arctic Arts Summit 2019, being held in Rovaniemi, Finland 3-5 June, 'Fringe' art exhibition will open at Gallery Valo in Arktikum House, Rovaniemi. The exhibition focused on art and crafts from the Arctic periphery runs from June 4 - August 11 2019 and includes works by artists from Finland, Norway and the Russian Federation.

The exhibition is part of the Arctic Handmade collaboration among three universities – Iceland University of the Arts (IS), University of Lapland, (FI) and Sami Allaskuvla/Sami University of Applied Sciences (NO) – as well as the Arctic Art Forum (RU).

Fringe refers to the outer edge, the margin or the periphery. When something is regarded as peripheral, marginal or extreme in relation to something, it often needs to be respected and protected. The exhibition makes connections through art and crafts, showing works by artists who have studied the dialogue themes from various perspectives with handmade techniques. This Arctic context is diverse, including dialogue with nature, people in the Arctic region, aesthetic experience, generations, traditions, and indigenous and non-indigenous art and culture. All those aspects are important factors for the sustainable future of Arctic art and culture. The dialogue themes have dimensions of cultural sustainability and issues connected to the ownership of culture, the transformation of traditions and the intercultural and the multicultural nature of the Arctic communities, fostering resilience through reflections of the North.

The collaboration aims to shed light on cultural awareness and create rich Arctic dialogue. In this exhibition, the artists come from Finland, Iceland, Norway, Russia and the United States. The project started as a Nordic initiative, but the project team decided to invite participants from Russia and the United States to extend the dialogue about the Arctic.