Searvedoaibma: Art and Social Communities in Sápmi

Abstract

The title of this book takes the Northern Sámi term searvedoaibma —which was an analytical framework developed throughout the project—as its starting point (Danbolt et al. 2022). This North Sámi term has no direct English equivalent. In Northern Sámi, searvi refers to something one participates in (e.g., an association or community), while doaibma describe practices of doing or enacting something. In short, searvedoaibma is an active concept that shifts the focus from understanding community as a noun—that is, as something that exists—to focusing on communities as being enacted into existence through practices and negotiations. By using this concept as the starting point for this publication, we seek to emphasize our interest in understanding how art and social communities are made and enacted in dynamic and relational processes, and how art and aesthetic performances contribute to and challenge these processes. The concept of searvedoaibma is based on Sámi ways of knowing and communal (inter)actions that are made and remade through the traditional knowledge and practices the land offers (see also Finbog 2023).