KIRUNA.- The 2026 program at Kin Museum of Contemporary Art in Giron/Kiruna takes as its starting point the release of the report of the Truth Commission for the Sámi People in Sweden. The report maps and examines policies implemented toward the Sámi from a historical perspective and analyzes their consequences for the Sámi people. In addition, the project will highlight thirty years of artistic practice by Bernd Krauß, while Kin’s third Konstfest will function as both a celebration of and a platform for discussion on contemporary art.
Tenskasven (IKEApayback): Bernd Krauß in Full Figure
February 19–April 5, 2026
In this “repro-spective,” the Brussels-based artist Bernd Krauß looks back at thirty years of artistic practice. The exhibition is an experimental field for the creative process itself, including among other things a “recipe book” of around fifty existing works by Bernd Krauß invites visitors to recreate selected artworks.
Borg Mesch, Hans-Olof Utsi, and Mikhail Tolmachev: The Use of Photography
April 18–October 18, 2026
Sixty photographs by Borg Mesch (1869–1956), depicting Giron/Kiruna’s first decades, the construction of the railway to the Atlantic coast, the magnificent northern landscape, and the Indigenous Sámi population, form the core of the exhibition. The Giron-based Sámi photographer Hans-Olof Utsi has, in turn, documented how Mesch’s images have been used to depict the town. Artist Mikhail Tolmachev has engaged with Mesch’s studio photography, focusing on how such practices stage both people and nature for a particular gaze. The selection is made by Niclas Östlind, professor of photography at HDK Valand at the University of Gothenburg, and Hans-Olof Utsi. Borg Mesch: A Photographer in Sápmi in the Age of Colonialism is part of Kin’s multi-year inquiry The Critical Zone.
Sápmi Triennial
June 4–September 13, 2026
The inaugural Sápmi Triennial includes a large and varied selection of contemporary Sámi art and duodji (traditional Sámi crafts) by twenty-eight artists. Based on an open call, the Sápmi Triennial was initiated by Sámi Dáiddaguovddáš, the Sámi Center for Contemporary Art in Kárášjohka/Karasjok, and is the result of a collaboration between seven different organizations operating within and outside Sápmi. Participating artists include Anna-Stina Svakko, Charlotte Nilsen, Christin Løkke, Eiril Linge, Elina Waage Mikalsen, Eva Kitok, Geir Tore Holm & Søssa Jørgensen, Gjert Rognli, Gunvor Guttorm, Hanne Grieg Hermansen, Hans Ragnar Mathisen, Helena Lagerqvist Kuoljok, Helmi Aletta Hagelin & Nuura Naboulsi, Inga-Wiktoria Påve, Inger Blix Kvammen, Jorunn Løkvold, Jouni S. Laiti, Kirsi Paltto, Katarina Spik Skum, Maarit Magga, Matti Aikio, Monica L. Edmondson, Odd Marakatt Sivertsen, Reetta Tornensis, Susanne Ewerlöf, and Tilde-Ristin Kuoljok
Johan Turi, Outi Pieski, and Johanna Minde: On the Ugly and the Beautiful
September 5, 2026–April 17, 2027
This exhibition marks the first presentation of drawings by the multidisciplinary artist Johan Turi (1854–1936) in over a century. Along with Turi’s detailed and vivid depictions of Northern Sámi traditions from the book Muitalus sámiid birra(A book about the life of the Sámis) from 1910, sculpture, painting, and photography by the artist Outi Pieski are presented. In addition, architect and duojár Johanna Minde’s reinterpretation of a clever wooden stool that Turi created will be shown. Harald Gaski, Sámi literary scholar, professor and author based in Deatnu/Tana, is an advisor to the exhibition.
Nils-Johan Labba: It Happened in Orusjohka
November 14, 2026–April 5, 2027
Duojár Nils-Johan Labba is based in Giron/Kiruna and Orusjohka/Årosjokk where the surrounding landscape becomes his Sámi craft. Around fifty of his works are displayed in an installation that also features works from his studio. The author Elin Anna Labba, his sister, contributes interviews and newly written text.
Artists in residence 2026
Bernd Krauß, Mikhail Tolmachev, Rehaf Al Batniji, Simon Ferner, Eleonora Edreva, Oyjon Khayrullaeva
