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– It feels great, it’s almost like you don’t believe it. It is really difficult to describe. There are so many things that we have the opportunity to do with the new museum.
That’s what Birgitta Fossum says. She is the director of the South Sami Museum in Snåsa.
The new building is just around the corner based on 34 years. The new museum is expected to be completed during December 2021.
But the fight started already in the early 80’s. So Saemien Sikhte wanted a new and dignified building.
The Southern Sámi Museum and Cultural Center is responsible for preserving the culture and language of the Southern Sámi.
Now Fossum believes that the history of South Sami can almost be rewritten thanks to the new museum.
– Finally we can document and write about the history of South Sami, this has a meaning for many. They are proud, one can strengthen the identity of the southern Sámi, Fossum tells NRK during the laying of the first stone.
TOCADO: It was a moved museum director Birgitta Fossum, who thanked everyone who has worked for a new museum for more than three decades.
Photo: Biret Ravdna Eira / NRK
Mold has been ruined for a major Sami exhibition
On Tuesday, the Minister of Culture and Gender Equality, Abid Raja (V), laid the first stone of the new chapter of the museum.
– This will be one of the most important things that I can do as Minister of Culture, Raja said before receiving help to lay the first stone.
SMILE WIDTH: Abid Raja had to get help laying the first stone. After a while, the Minister of Culture and Gender Equality put the finishing touches.
Photo: Ailin Maria Danielsen / NRK
The road to laying this first stone has been long and winding.
The museum has been affected, among other things, by mold, leaks and bad indoor climate. This has led to some of the museum’s artifacts being found in a NATO bunker, far from the museum.
The Saemien Sijte art history exhibition was closed 14 years ago. Therefore, it has imposed restrictions on what the museum can offer in terms of exhibits and services.
BUNKERS: Several meters below the earth’s surface are exhibits of Southern Sami in this NATO bunker. This protects objects from mold and moisture in the old building.
Photo: Tor-Emil Schanche / NRK
When new doors open to the outside world, more opportunities open up for the museum as well.
– We can finally recover our cultural treasures from Oslo that we have received through Bååstede, says the museum director Fossum and continues:
– I think it will have a lot to say about pride and identity building, especially for future generations.
IN A NEW COSTUME: This is what the entrance to the new Saemien Sijte will look like.
Illustration: for architects
– It gives us the opportunity to understand more about our history.
It was through the state budget for 2018 that the museum was able to rejoice. It was then that it became clear that the government would give priority to the construction of the new museum. More than 115 million were reserved for the museum to come true.
Now the young South Sami believe that this will be a great help to show their culture.
– The new building gives us the opportunity to understand more about our history.
This is what Maria Gunilla Påve Wilks, who was born and raised in Snåsa, says. She believes that the new Saemien Sijte building will have a lot to say for the identity and cultural understanding of young people.
YOUNG: Maria Gunilla Påve Wilks, is happy that the long-awaited building finally arrives in Snåsa.
Photo: Private
– It is incredibly important that the Sami are more visible in the area. I think this will result in the Sami becoming more normalized in society, and that also influences our identity, says Wilks.
– Southern Sami culture really deserves a museum that has a display case that gives a worthy image of the culture, says Fossum.
- See what the museum director said after the ceremony:
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