Guhte gullá / Here to hear
Multi-channel video installation, 8:30 minutes, 2021

It’s an underground cave party! Young people dance to escape the angst of world destruction, summoning the aid of the forgotten Sámi earth deities Uksáhkká, Juoksáhkká and Sáráhkká. We are losing our connection with the earth and our ancestors who rest beneath the soil. It is time for us to reconnect with the sacredness deep within the earth.

In their work Guhte gullá / Here to hear, women of different generations listen to the voices of their foremothers through dance and duodji, traditional Sámi handicrafts. The mother-daughter relationship between Outi Pieski and Birit and Katja Haarla chimes aptly with the theme of their first joint artistic collaboration. The space is filled with Tuomo Puranen’s ritual-beating electronic music and Mari Boine’s yoik, which invites us to change and pay attention to the foremothers’ message.

Directors: Birit Haarla, Katja Haarla & Outi Pieski
Cinematographer, Editor: Mauri Lähdesmäki
Choreography: Birit and Katja Haarla
Performers: Birit and Katja Haarla
Music: Mari Boine, Tuomo Puranen
Sound Design: Pekka Aikio
Costume Designer: Auri Lukkarinen, Outi Pieski
Film Assistant: Maria Duncker
Sound recording: Svein Schultz
Commissioned by HAM/Helsinki Biennial 2021 
Thank you: Teuri Haarla, P.A.R.T.S – Performing Arts Research and Training Studios, Angel Films.

12 JUN – 26 SEP Helsinki Biennial 2021