Paths of Duodji

Birit Tornensis (born in 1985) and Reetta Tornensis (born in 1994) are cousins who have both studied Saami culture at the Giellagas Institute at the University of Oulu and learned soft Saami crafts at the Saami Education Center in Jokkmokk. The Tornensis siblings collaboratively create content for the social media account named Studio Tornensis. Their content primarily focuses on showcasing and depicting the traditional Saami crafts of the Enontekiö region, as well as other forms of art.

Reetta & Birit:
"In the exhibition, we depict our journey as Saami artisans. We showcase our family's craft tradition through both new and old Saami crafts and photographs. We also document our own learning process and growth as artisans. Alongside making mistakes, a significant part of the learning process involves understanding and interpreting our family's traditions. The importance of self-reflection in our work increases, especially when there isn't always a piece made by our grandmother to serve as a model."

Duodjebálgát is Reetta and Birit's first joint exhibition. While Birit now focuses more on creating traditional duodji, Reetta has taken steps towards duodji art design.

DUODJI refers to Sámi handicraft made using traditional techniques, design, and materials.