Duodji (Handicraft) path

Duodji is the language of making. Making Sámi handicrafts, or duodji, creates emotional ties to one’s home region, as well as to one’s parents and the relatives who have taught one how to make cultural objects. Duodji is linked with knowledge of the natural environment and the materials used. It also reveals many aspects of Sámi customs and social relations. The history, practices, beliefs and values connected with an object combine to make it a cultural artefact. Each example of Sámi handicraft tells a rich and meaningful story.

Sámi crafts are made from natural materials and based on traditional livelihoods such as reindeer herding, fishing and hunting. Traditional Sámi clothing has evolved from everyday garments into a symbol of Sámi identity: each item of Sámi clothing is a unique garment belonging to an individual but also contains clearly recognisable collective features. On the basis of the clothing someone is wearing, the surrounding community can identify the wearer’s background and position them on the “map” of Sámi families.

Here’s what you’ll find along the Duodji Path:

1. The need for objects to be practical lies behind the use of wood as material for many items: the objects have been designed to be beautiful as well as functional.

2. Wide bowls and wooden cups used in eating.

3. Sámi shoelaces – ribbons woven with a reed and shuttle – are wrapped around the upper part of boots.

4. Changes in Sámi clothing and accessories when one is in different stages of the life cycle.

5. The rich handicraft tradition of the Skolt Sámi.

6. Sámi clothing lives and changes with time.

7. Marja Helander’s and Mauri Lähdesmäki’s video installation Through the Ages spotlights the vivacity and diversity of Sámi culture.