barfuss im schnee – barefoot in snow

2 books, hardcover, 21 x 30 cm, in cardboard linen covered box 22 x 31 x 3 cm, photo collages in pigment print on Kozo 21gm, Inoshi 12 gm and Rakusui 9 gm papers, lichen in foil, sewing, Japanese binding, hot foil embossing, bookbinding by Thomas Lüttich Weimar, Germany, edition of 4 +3.

These two books with the poetry by Sami activist Nils Aslak Valkeapää in Sámi, Finnish and (first time translated) to German languages, relate and dive into to the culture of Nomad people in space and form. Unusual poem structures and visual rhythms, created by Valkeapää they differ from Middle European approaches and suck into to the inevitable natural connection to the land, the wind and time. Photo-collages of different geographical, satellite and weather maps overlap with historical images and personal photographs. The dwindling aboriginal inhabitants of the northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Murmansk Oblast, relatively isolated, still speaking 10 different languages and still fighting for their right of land ownership are being honoured and given the spotlight they deserve. These 12 poems by Nils Aslak Valkeapää in Northern Sámi are translated into Finnish by Pekka Sammanlahti and into German by Christine Schlosser.