North

For several years, Marja Helander has been taking photographs in Sápmi in the northern Fennoscandian region, exploring the link between the mining industry and today’s standard of living and culture of consumption, and in particular, the impact of mining on the sensitive northern nature. The nickel mined in the Kola Peninsula is needed, for example, for the manufacture of stainless steel, computer hard drives and mobile phone batteries. Again, the apatite mined in the Khibiny Mountains is processed further to produce phosphate fertilisers for farming needs. In her work, Helander emphasises the dependence between people and nature. In addition to landscapes, the artist presents a human who takes the form of an animal, thus identifying with old Sámi beliefs, Sámi being the indigenous people of Scandinavia and Kola Peninsula. “As a Sámi person, I want to highlight the corporeality of people and how humans are just one animal species among many, dependent on nature, ecosystems and land. We are part of the cyclicity of nature; a pile of particles and molecules.”