Báiki – a Sámi place in the open-air museum

Báiki is a northern Sámi word that can mean place, dwelling place, or settlement.

Given the national romantic backdrop of Norsk Folkemuseum, it is important to make Sámi perspectives visible on their own terms and conditions by looking toward the future without disregarding the site’s history. Using contemporary Sámi architecture and contemporary art as tools, a dynamic, interactive, and critical space is created where stories are not only preserved, but also explored, discussed, and reinterpreted.

Sámi interventions in the open-air museum is an ongoing collaboration between Norsk Folkemuseum and the nomadic art organizations Verdde. Through concrete collaborations with Sámi architects, duojárat, and artists, different ways of creating Sámi spaces and places are explored. The project provides insight into how the communication and presentation of Sámi building traditions, architecture, and cultural heritage can be developed at Norsk Folkemuseum’s open-air museum in the coming years.

Norsk Folkemuseum manages archival, photographic, and object collections related to Sámi post-war architecture, including material collected by the Norwegian architect Kjell Borgen. Borgen carried out extensive studies for Norsk Folkemuseum on architecture, landscapes, and historical developments in settlement, fishing, hunting, reindeer husbandry, and agriculture in Sápmi. Through Báiki, the museum’s archival material is activated and challenged by allowing Sámi architects themselves to investigate and define Sámi architecture from a contemporary Sámi perspective.

The project is supported by Nordic Culture Point and Arts Council Norway