Duodji and Sustainability: Lecture with Gunvor Guttorm

Duodji and Sustainability: Lecture with Gunvor Guttorm

Gunvor Guttorm is a professor in duodji, Sámi handicraft, at the Sámi University of Applied Sciences in Guovdageaidnu/Kautokeino. In her lecture, she will be discussing duodji from a sustainability perspective. While much of duodji can be viewed as something culturally and economically sustainable, it also entails a sustainable lifestyle for those who practice it. How can duodji be viewed in the context of the so-called green transition? How do its practitioners position themselves within it? What can duodji and dudjon (the act of creating) offer the green transition?

Guttorm was born and raised in Kárášjohka/Karasjok and currently lives in Johkamohkki/Jokkmokk. She has been involved in sustainability issues since her youth, even though it may have gone under a different name back then. She has written a number of articles about what duodji and duodjo mean in the Sámi context, how it fits into the everyday and how it impacts people’s well-being.