Sámi Museum Siida and Kiasma announce joint exhibition opening in spring: We Who Remain presents a comprehensive selection of contemporary Sámi art

Opening at Kiasma on 27 March 2026, We Who Remain is a major joint exhibition organised by the Sámi Museum Siida and Kiasma. It presents contemporary art by and about the Sámi community across the Sápmi territories of Finland, Sweden, and Norway. A curated selection will be shown at Siida in Inari starting from October 2026.

The Sápmi region, which today spans four countries, existed long before the emergence of Nordic nation-states or national ideologies. We Who Remain invites audiences to experience Sámi identity through the voices of the Sámi themselves. The works foreground the complexities of Sámi experience, showing how Sámi identity endures and flourishes despite external pressures.

Curated by Saami Rights advocate, essayist and musician Petra Laiti, the exhibition features more than 20 artists, with works ranging from the 1970s to today.

“We are delighted that Kiasma is presenting this joint exhibition at a moment when Sámi contemporary art is receiving growing international attention. This is the first major exhibition of Sámi contemporary art and duodji (Sámi handicrafts) ever held in Helsinki. It is also deeply significant that the exhibition has been curated by Sámi themselves. Petra Laiti’s curatorial concept powerfully weaves together our people’s past and present,” says Taina Máret Pieski, Director of the Sámi Museum Siida.

The exhibition’s title is inspired by Johan Turi’s 1910 book Muitalus sámiid birra (An Account of the Sámi), which describes a time when, as Turi wrote, “the Sámi did not even know that there were other people besides themselves.”

“The Nordic peoples have been taught that Sápmi never even existed, and if it did, it was not what the Sámi themselves say it was – or that its existence ended for reasons other than those we still feel in our bones. Don’t let that fool you. Before there were Nordic countries, there was Sápmi. Not a state in today’s sense, nor a nationality as defined by passports, but a nation. And in the past, it was the only nation that called these lands home,” writes curator Petra Laiti.

We Who Remain is the first comprehensive exhibition of Sámi art ever presented at Kiasma.

“It is a special honour to collaborate with Siida, whose expertise is internationally recognised. Kiasma, as part of the Finnish National Gallery, is committed to collaboration and continuous learning. Through projects like this, we can share new, eye-opening perspectives – which is, after all, the essential role of contemporary art,” says Kiira Miesmaa, Director of Kiasma.

We Who Remain
Sámi Art in Focus
27.3.-6.9.2026, Kiasma

More information for media:

Siida

Taina Máret Pieski, Director of the Sámi Museum Siida, taina.pieski@samimuseum.fi

Kiasma

Kiira Koskela, Communications Officer, 050 4786 861, kiira.koskela@kiasma.fi
Piia Laita, Head of Communications, 0294 500 507, piia.laita@kiasma.fi

The Sámi Museum Siida is a national museum responsible for its special field, Sámi culture, and a regional museum responsible for tasks concerning cultural environments in the Sámi Area. Siida’s main purpose is to support the identity and the cultural self-esteem of the Sámi. Siida is also a member of the world’s indigenous people’s museum network.

The Finnish National Gallery is the national museum of fine arts. It operates three of Finland’s best-known museums: the Ateneum Art Museum, the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma and the Sinebrychoff Art Museum. It also manages the national art collection and its archives, develops Finnish cultural heritage and promotes art to the wider public.