For the 18th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, the Nordic Countries Pavilion, representing Finland, Norway, and Sweden, will showcase Girjegumpi, an itinerant collective library project initiated by architect and artist Joar Nango. For over fifteen years, Joar Nango has been assembling an archive of books and materials exploring Indigenous Sámi architecture and design, traditional building knowledge, activism, and decoloniality. The Girjegumpi first opened to the public in 2018, becoming a welcoming space for gathering and promoting the Indigenous culture. In 2023, the library will travel to Venice, where it will be presented in the Nordic Countries Pavilion, designed by Norwegian architect Sverre Fehn.
The Girjegumpi is mainly an archive that gathers and shares its growing collection of over 500 rare titles and contemporary books that explore indigenous Sámi culture and building practices. Since opening to the public, it has become a social space for gathering large groups of people, a reading room for study and reflection, and a source of knowledge. Alongside Joar Nango, the project includes multiple collaborations with artists and craftspeople such as Katarina Spik Skum, Anders Sunna, and Ken Are Bongo.
The Sámi are a Finno-Ugric-speaking people inhabiting an area known as Sápmi, covering northern Norway, Sweden, and Finland, as well as the Kola Peninsula of Russia. The total population in these four countries is estimated at 80,000 people, and they are considered the descendants of the nomadic peoples who had inhabited northern Scandinavia for thousands of years. Their traditional way of life blends with the modern world. In 1989 the Sámi Parliament opened in the village of Karasjok in Finnmark county, Norway.
The same village of Kárášjohka/Karasjok houses the Sámi Centre for Contemporary Art and the Girjegumpi library when it is not traveling. The name Girjegumpi is derived from two Northern Sámi words: ‘Girji,’ meaning book, and ‘Gumpi,’ a small mobile reindeer herder cabin on sleds. The wordplay hints at the nomadic character of the project.
By traveling to various locations, from Bergen, Oslo, or Helsinki, to Ottawa, Canada, the initiative exposes the relevance of Indigenous culture in today’s architectural discourse. It showcases the importance of collaborative work, the local building techniques and the use of resources that adapt to the rapidly changing climate conditions, the use of locally grounded materials, and a sensitive approach to landscape and nature.
Joar Nango’s work is focused on the role of Sámi and Indigenous architecture and craft in contemporary thought. As an architect and artist based in Norway, he initiated several actions and collaborations to explore these areas of interest. Following a winning proposal in 2021, Nango, alongside Snøhetta, Econor, and 70°N arkitektur, is designing the new Sámi National Theatre in Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino, currently under construction.
More info on La Biennale di Venezia.
