Beaivi, áhčážan / The Sun, My Father (ENGLISH)

This episode was recorded on 3 November 2025 at the University Museum in Tromsø, as part of the symposium Sámi Rhythm, Sounds of Nature, Yoik: Contemporary Research in Acoustic Ecology, organized by Rossella Ragazzi for the research group SAMFORSK in collaboration with the projects DIGIJOIK and Sharing Our Knowledge at UiT The Arctic University of Norway.

The session began with an introduction by Rossella Ragazzi, followed by a collective deep listening to Nils-Aslak Valkeapää’s Beaivi, áhčážan, introduced by Katri Somby and followed by reflections from Harald Gaski, Ol Johan Gaup, Katri Somby, and Jakop Janssønn. The conversation explores the work as a meeting place for poetry, photography, yoik, rhythm, history, and cosmology, and asks what becomes possible when listening is shared collectively in space. Beaivi, áhčážan remains one of the key works in modern Sámi art, and the original Sámi edition is distinctive for combining poetry with a large body of historical photographs from across Sápmi.

The wider programme continued with a lecture by Andreas Kühne on the soundscape of the Rávdnji exhibition at the museum, and with a presentation of a new album from the museum’s luohti collections, including a newly composed Deatnu luohti on climate change, curated by Camilla Brattland in collaboration with Sharing Our Knowledge. On 4 November, the symposium moved to Árdna at the UiT campus, where the programme included musical explorations, lectures, a panel on the DIGIJOIK project and the challenges of translating dajahusat, and a final discussion led by Ellen Marie Bråthen Steen. Several sessions from the symposium were recorded for Sámi ritmmat.

Warm thanks to Rossella Ragazzi for initiating and hosting the symposium, and to everyone who contributed to this session and the wider programme. Special thanks to Katri Somby, Harald Gaski, Ol Johan Gaup, Andreas Kühne, Camilla Brattland, Nicola Renzi, Trude Fonneland, Risten Anine Gaup, Ellen Marie Bråthen Steen, and all participants and listeners who helped make these two days a rich space for reflection, listening, and exchange. Rossella Ragazzi is an associate professor at UiT, Camilla Brattland is an associate professor at the university museum, Katri Sarak Somby is affiliated with the Department of Archaeology, History, Religious Studies and Theology, Harald Gaski is associate professor of Sámi literature, and Ol Johan Gaup has worked with DAT’s joik and music releases connected to UiT’s archive work.

Editorial note: In the conversation, Harald Gaski briefly mixes up the Sámi nicknames Báron and Goahtelaš when referring to the musician who created the percussive stomach slapping sound. The factual point remains correct, namely that it was Esa Kotilainen, but the Sámi nickname is misassigned in the spoken exchange. This has been left unchanged in the audio and noted here for archival accuracy. Beaivi, áhčážan is credited in DAT’s catalogue to Nils-Aslak Valkeapää and Esa Kotilainen.

Foto: Knut Åserud

Logo: Peter Knudsen

Musikk av: Filip Hauan

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