Vestnorden Arts & Crafts 2004

Samiland

The Sami live in the northern part of Scandinavia and their land reaches over Northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and into Russia. Their arts and crafts bear witness to their past as nomads and the need to be self sufficient. They have roamed around the country with their reindeer which they have learned to make the best use of. From the skins of the reindeer they got material for clothes, shoes and bags but the antlers they used to make knifes, drum sticks and spoons, for exemple. Another important matrerial was wood, mainly birch, that was used to make containers and other cooking utensils, and fibers from roots that was used for laces and strings. Lately the Samis have started to make jewelry out of silver and gold.

At the exhibition the Sami displayed shoes and clothes of reindeerskin, embroidered baskets and gloves, containers of birch and reindeers antlers and bags of skin, wood and horn.

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