Curatorial Strategies and Methodologies: Momentum for Rethinking Sámi Art

What constitutes a state-funded art museum in Norway today? Within this context there are numerous questions that come to mind. For instance, what is the museum’s role and function in society? Why does it exist and for whom? How are public art institutions organized? How do they uphold ethical principles? How do art museums respond when challenged in their own fields of competence? More specifically, how do they respond to criticism? Perhaps more importantly, one might inquire as to what art museums in Norway could be. For instance, what is a futuristic vision of the public art museum? What kind of institution do we expect and who is “we”? Who decides what and how an art museum works? This dissertation probes the aforementioned key questions in the study of two state-funded public art museums in Norway: Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum (Northern Norway Art Museum; NNKM) in Romsa/Tromsø and Nasjonalmuseet (The National Museum) in Oslo. The aim of this dissertation is to question and challenge status quo art museum practices and at the same time the predisposition to regard state-funded art museums in Norway as neutral institutions. Art museums that do not practice nor engage in critical inquiry will most likely maintain the status quo. For this purpose my dissertation endorses the art museum as social agent and an institution that is self-critical and open to change.

This research probes the key questions in the study of public art museums in Norway: What constitutes a state-funded art museum in Norway today? Within this context numerous questions come to mind. For instance, what is the museum’s role and function in society? Why does it exist and for whom? How are public art institutions organized? How do they uphold ethical principles? When challenged within their own fields of competence how do art museums respond and how are they proactive when confronted with criticism? The main findings in this research work are (1) with art, gender, diversity, and representation under the auspices of philanthropy and marketplace ideology, the art museum can guise the problematic ethical implications, including the origins of capital and potential threats to academic freedom, as progressive development; (2) institutional critique can acknowledge institutional blind spots and counter the notion of neutrality in art museum displays; and (3) the art museum as activist (through feminist intervention in the public space) can engage local communities on issues of gender justice and illuminate patriarchal ideologies. The open airing of facts in this study might suffice to incite change, specifically the decolonization of museums. As a feminist, recognizing the dilemmas and insisting on them is “staying with the trouble” (Haraway 2016). By identifying the difficulties facing art museums we may develop the critical language needed to foster practices shaped out of ethically informed values, for example the principles outlined in the "Ethical Guidelines for Museums in Norway" (2022). Although my study is from a Nordic perspective the issues concerning art museums are not unique to Norway. This study will contribute to broader research with regards to the challenges facing the international museum community. Globally art museums struggle for sustainability in the ongoing process of marketization of cultural institutions in the neoliberal era.

Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum seeks to firmly position itself as an attractive partner for established research environments, especially in the arts/design and humanities. Key to this work is a shift from the museum’s current understanding of research as primarily “art historical” in nature, to broader perceptions of research as rooted in the curatorial/exhibition practices and dissemination/education activities of the museum. This research project uses this aspect of Nordnorsk Kunstmuseum’s strategy as its starting point. This project can be broken down into several core terms: art, curating, museums, identity, indigeneity, the viewer as participant and the Circumpolar North. In order to rethink notions of Sámi art curatorial modes and strategies will act as a tool. An investigation and examination of historic precedents is needed in order to develop possible indigenous curatorial methodologies. Sámi art still remains lesser known to audiences outside of Northern Norway. Research will primarily focus on regional museums in the Circumpolar North and how they serve their communities. Regional museums can encourage global dialogue in order to expand perspectives about the North and its distinct environment. Furthermore the project will link to academic environments in North America with established international expertise on Native American art and curating. This project will also investigate new methods of exhibition presentation and design to determine how this can influence, alter and challenge traditional ways of thinking about Sámi art. Dialogue and visitor participation are two key sources of direction. Do the labels in the exhibition engage, challenge and enrich the audience experience? Visitor participation would give visitors the opportunity to have to do something, perform a task as outlined by the curator and in doing so be challenged to create meaningful experiences and new knowledge.