4.9. — 27.9.2026, Media Box

At the Shadow of the World / Máilmmittkus / At the Shadow of the World
2025
single-channel video work, 9 min
techniques: drone, 360 cameras

At the Shadow of the World / Máilmmittkus / At the Shadow of the World is a surreal journey into the complex relationship between indigenous peoples and technological development. The work examines the different phases of technology and their effects on the lives, culture and relationship with the land of indigenous peoples.

Modern technology is often seen as destroying sustainable, land-bound lifestyles. At the same time, the Sámi have also at least partially embraced and utilized the technological revolution. The work moves in the midst of this tension and asks what relationship modern technology has with Sámi culture today. Is it possible to break away from technology anymore, and under what conditions is participation in it morally justified, if at the same time the environment bears the consequences?

The work is based on Niillas Holmberg’s poetic thinking about the rapid integration of technology into indigenous culture, contrasting ancestors and descendants, a slow lifestyle and the hectic modern age, living tradition and a world where everything seems to be becoming measurable, efficient and commercialized. In particular, the mechanization of reindeer herding serves as an example of development in the work’s thinking, where the technology adopted by one person forces others to follow suit. When an activity becomes more expensive, it must also produce, and the trap closes.

Hans Pieski and Arttu Nieminen collaborate to create a collaboration where two different but mutually resonant northern pictorial worlds meet. Utsjoki-based Sámi filmmaker Hans Pieski constructs visual narratives where indigenous culture, the Arctic environment and surreal imagery intertwine. Rovaniemi-based media artist Arttu Nieminen is known for his mystical, flowing and meditative works that approach nature as a dreamlike and hallucinatory space. Together, their expression opens a view into the shadow of the world, an area where technology, culture, landscape and memory collide.

The work is produced by R2 Productions and Dead Standing Tree Films and supported by ISFI. SKR, Taike, Avek, Frame.