A conversation about joik (in the past, present and future)Geažideami
Join Professor Harald Gaski and joiker Viktor Bomstad for a conversation moderated by Liisa-Rávná Finbog, curator for Indigenous art at MUNCH. Together, they will explore how yoik has carried language, identity, and culturalmemory through history – and how it continues to shape the present and future.
Once banned by colonial authorities, yoik remains central to Sámi life as music, poetry, and storytelling. Its meanings often unfold in subtle layers, accessible only to those who know how to listen. This complexity is captured by theconcept of geažideami – an understanding that everything holds multiple, sometimes even contradictory, meanings. Through this lens, the conversation will reveal how yoik has been a powerful force for resistance, resilience and continuity in Sámi culture.
In recent years, Harald Gaski has been a professor of Sami literature at Sámi allaskuvla / Sami University College in Guovdageaidnu, and previously a professor of Sami culture and literature at UiT The Arctic University of Norway, where he established Sami literary studies as a separate academic discipline in the mid-1980s. He has researched Sami literature, traditions, myths and values, and contributed to the development of Indigenous criticism within indigenous methodology. Gaski has participated in a number of national and international research projects, including as a member of the advisory group for Nga Pae o te Maratamanga – New Zealand's Māori Centre of Research Excellence (2006–2015), and has received several awards, including the Gollegiella Nordic Sami Language Prize and the University of Tromsø's Communication Prize. He has published a number of books, from With words, the thieves shall be driven away. The epic poetic poetry of the Sami people. (1987) to Vuoiŋŋalašvuohta – Sami Spirituality – An Essay on the Sámi People's Spiritual Connection to Land, (2025), and in recent years has led the work to modernisethe Sami-language scientific journal Sámi dieđalaš áigečála.
Viktor Bomstad is a traditional yoiker and experimental musician from Sápmi/Norway. He is passionate about combining yoik with different musical expressions and soundscapes. His music is often raw, slowly evolving and trance-like, with a strong emphasis on improvisation. In 2023-2024, he held the unique position of regional yoiker in Troms and Finnmark. He often performs as a solo artist or together with the other magicians in Sex Magick Wizards, as well as in various other bands and constellations.
