Britta Marakatt-Labba

Rahkkan (Crackled) is made out of a flour sack left behind by German soldiers in the north of Norway in the 1940s. Onto this coarse, battered material Britta Marakatt-Labba has embroidered images of a pack of reindeer, weaponry, and a special postage stamp. The work testifies to changes in ways of life, including the forced dislocation of Sami people that happened as part of the German occupation of Norway. The motif is based on Marrakatt-Labba’s own family history, in which her father, a reindeerherding Sami, continued to bring the herd to the Tammok valley during the summer. He did this despite the fact that the Norwegian fields were no longer safe territory, scattered as they were with landmines – the field and the herd’s regular pattern of movement began to crack. Even today, artefacts left by the Germans serve as reminders of the war, rising to the surface during the frequent flooding of the rivers. Accompanying the embroidery is a passport distributed among Sami people in the border region. It came with a let- ter from the county of Norrbotten urging citizens not to help the Norwegian resistance movement: “It is strictly forbidden in any way to assist the Norwegian refugees in crossing the border to Sweden.” History and events continue to repeat.

Britta Marakatt-Labba (b. in Idivuoma, 1951) is an artist based in Övre Soppero.

Work

Rahkkan (Crackeled), 2014

Location

Luleå konsthall
17.11.2018–17.2.2018