Tomas Colbengtson

Title: Gïela dájvan (language-landscape)
Technique: Mixed media on polycarbonate
Year: 2026
Image dimensions: 98 x 125 cm
Frame: White L-frame without glass
Framed dimensions: 103 x 129.5 cm
Other: The work is part of the exhibition Our Stories, on view at the gallery until December 5, 2026. If purchased, the work can be collected / shipped only after the exhibition closes. 

The landscape in the image is formed from a South Sámi text telling the story of the people and history of the place. The people in the photograph came from far to the north in 1931 - an event that is still recounted and had major consequences for many people’s lives. Here, language becomes part of the landscape itself and carries the story forward.

Tomas Colbengtson (b. 1957, Björkvattnet, Tärnaby) works with memory, history, and issues of repatriation and decolonization. His art draws on his own experiences and traditional Sámi craftsmanship, through which knowledge and stories have been passed down through generations. The craft carries experiences of a life close to nature and an understanding of humanity’s dependence on and interaction with its surroundings.