Duodji from Antlers and Woodwork. A Conversation with Jon Tomas Utsi

16:00–16:45 Duodji from Antlers and Woodwork.**

A Conversation between Jon Tomas Utsi and Liselotte Winka, Curatorlab. In Swedish.
Jon Tomas Utsi began to make handicrafts when he was ten years old and has continued to do so ever since. Today, he partly makes a living as a duojár, or Sámi craftsman, and he is also educated as a teacher in both wood- and metalwork. The Utsi family was formerly dislocated from Karesuando and at present lives in Porjus, working there as reindeer herders. Utsi crafts various kinds of everyday objects, including anything from knives, drinking vessels, milk pails [náhppi], to wood boxes. He finds the material in nature, mostly from birch trees and shed reindeer antlers. The form often decides the function of the object. Utsi’s craft is connected to his identity and a way of keeping the Sámi culture alive.