Tomas Colbengtson

Title: Åeriel Sámi Næphie
Technique: Overlay glass, enamel
Dimensions: 9.5 x 27 x 16 cm
Year: 2026
Other: The work is part of the exhibition Our Stories, on view at the gallery until December 5, 2026. If the work is purchased, it can be collected / shipped only after the exhibition ends. 

The three works, Mielkie Gueksie, Åeriel Sámi Næphie and Næphie, are based on repatriated Southern Sámi renmjölkningskåsor—traditional wooden milk cups with carved designs. As everyday objects, they are closely connected to Sámi life, but their histories also contain stories of loss, displacement, and colonisation. Objects that were once removed from their original contexts have, through repatriation, been returned to Sámi cultural heritage. The cups thus become not only carriers of memories of a lived tradition, but also testimonies to the importance of returning and making Sámi objects, knowledge, and history visible.

Tomas Colbengtson (born 1957, Björkvattnet, Tärnaby) works with memory, history and questions of repatriation and decolonization. His art draws on his own experiences and traditional Sámi crafts, where 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.