Hop in crushers, we’re going to the Arctic. We take a walk through the woods with Sámi reindeer herder, choreographer, and filmmaker Elle Sofe Sara. The wind blows, the snow falls, the noses run, the hearts beat wild. She talks the importance of refuelling, travel, an old Sámi tradition called ‘ribadit’ where you grab your crush’s belt and walk around with them, and what it was like to move from the tundra to London at the age of 19. We are blessed to know her.

Some helpful vocab:
Sámi - Indigenous people of Northern Fenno-Scandinavia.
Sápmi - Traditional territory of Sámi people, spanning what are now considered four nations: Norway, Sweden, Finland, and the Kola Peninsula of Russia.
Avži - the village in which Elle Sofe grew up, and of which her family still comprises half its residents.
Guovdageaidnu - the centre of Sámi culture, and where Elle Sofe and Svea both live.
Sámi Language - a Finno-Ugric language unrelated to Romance or Germanic languages.
Ribadit - ‘Pulling of the Belt’, a Sámi tradition and the title of a film and dance piece made by Elle Sofe Sara (https://ellesofe.com/portfolios/ribadit/)
Gákti - Sámi traditional dress: handmade, decorated, sacred, and very expensive.

Elle Sofe’s project ‘Vástádus eana’ (‘The Answer is Land’): https://ellesofe.com/portfolios/vastadus-eana-the-answer-is-land/
The poem by three Sámi artists of the same title: https://digitaltmuseum.no/021048772629/rajacumma-kiss-from-the-border-gazaldat-eana-vastadus-eana-papir

Visual tour: https://artcrushinternational.com/elle-sofe-sara.html
Elle Sofe on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellesofe/?hl=en
Elle Sofe’s website: https://ellesofe.com/

Follow ART CRUSH INTERNATIONAL on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artcrush_international/
Love letters: contact@artcrushinternational
Website: https://artcrushinternational.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcIyQdD132sdIc23PO8k0vA
Beautiful Online Thing: Art Lead (https://artlead.net/)