On the Ugly and the Beautiful: Johan Turi, Outi Pieski, and Johanna Minde

On the Ugly and the Beautiful: Johan Turi, Outi Pieski, and Johanna Minde is the first exhibition in over a hundred years featuring drawings by the legendary multi-artist Johan Turi (1854–1936). Alongside Turi’s detailed and lively depictions of Northern Sami traditions, the exhibition presents sculptures, paintings, and photographs by artist Outi Pieski, born in 1973 and based in Ohcejohka/Utsjoki on the Finnish side of Sápmi. Like Turi, her work is closely connected to both Sámi history and contemporary life. The exhibition includes her hanging sculptures with shawl fringes and her research project on ládjogahpir, the female red horned cap. In addition, architect and duojár Johanna Minde’s reinterpretation of a whimsical wooden stool created by Turi and now part of the Nordic Museum’s collections is on display.

Turi is considered the first Sámi author to write about Sámi conditions in his native language. In 1910, his book Muitalus sámiid birra (A Book About the Life of the Lapps) is published in Northern Sámi and Danish, and seven years later it appears in Swedish. The book contains vivid descriptions of reindeer herding, hunting, trapping, beliefs, medicine, childbirth, and joik, as well as Turi’s own drawings. It is a genre-transcending text with elements of both historical essay and ‘life writing,’ based on his own experiences of Sami reindeer herding life in the areas around present-day Kiruna and Torneträsk. Muitalus sámiid birra is a classic example of traditional indigenous literature: it is based on the indigenous Sami people’s own knowledge and combines anthropology, folklore, history, and literature. The title of the exhibition, On the Ugly and the Beautiful, is a quote from the book and reflects Turi’s view that everything must be depicted: both the ugly and the beautiful.

Johan Turi, born in Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino, learned to read and write as an adult. With the support of artist and author Emilie Demant-Hatt from Copenhagen, he wrote Muitalus sámiid birra over a few months in a simple cottage by Torneträsk. LKAB’s first manager, Hjalmar Lundbohm, handled the publication. Turi continued to write and draw throughout his life, he received a medal from the king and became something of a national celebrity in his later years.

Harald Gaski, a Sami literary scholar, professor and author based in Deatnu/Tana, is an advisor to the exhibition. It is part of Kin’s multi-year thematic threads The Critical Zone and Hand, Heart, and Brain.

Image 1: Johan Turi
Image 2: Outi Pieski
Image 3: Outi Pieski
Image 4: Johan Turi