Beaivi - Original painting

Beaivi. This is probebly one of my most important paintings. I´ll tell you why.

The area where I live is not only Swedish land but also the land of the Sami people, the indigenous population of scandinavia. This land is called Sápmi and was the Sami peoples long before the kings and queens of Sweden started colonising it. The story of the colonisation is as horrible here as it is in the rest of the world. And it is continuing until this day. Mining the mountains, thousands of windturbines, destroying holy places, cutting down pristine forest, forcing families to move, making it harder for reindeerhearding, discriminating, ignoring, taunting, taking away assets and investing the money in the south outside of Sapmi. I could write a novel of how we still discriminate the Sami people. This is something that I with every bit of my soul stand against. I don´t think we have the right to use the land for industries that are NOT green, that opresses an ethnic group and culture that is very much alive.

This symbol is inspired by the Sami sun symbol and also the ritual Sami drum Gievrie. It holds a sun, a ghoati tent, reindeer, elk, river and arrow. It is not my making but comes from this strong and beautiful culture.

I am not Sami myself. Therefore, all the money that comes from this painting will directly go to Sofia Jannok Arvas Foundation that works for Sami rights. I will not keep a penny for myself.

Thank you for showing interest for my art and standing up for Sami rights. I hope this painting will be a joy to you.