Event: Olof Marsja Background Evening at 1646

During this evening, Olof Marsja will share the broader history of the colonisation of Sápmi, the land traditionally inhabited by the Sámi people, which was marked by discrimination, racism, and cultural oppression. He will reflect on how this history connects to his own background and personal experience.

Marsja will also talk about how his artistic practice becomes a way to question and unlearn internalised oppression, as well as a tool to resist simplified or stereotypical views of Sámi identity. His work combines sculpture, installation, and storytelling, weaving together traditional materials and contemporary references to explore identity, resilience, and transformation.

Each Background Evening offers a unique opportunity to gain deeper insight into the ideas and personal histories that shape the exhibition. Visitors are invited not only to listen, but also to ask questions and engage in dialogue with the artist.

About
Olof Marsja works with sculptural expressions that analyse and blend uncannily the ultra modern contemporary digital reality and pop culture with history and traditions connected to his Sámi heritage and Duodji (Sámi craft). Crafts and materials are central in Marsja’s research and his works are deeply marked by the plurality of practical knowledge and references that characterise the hybrid forms with which he seriously and humorously analyses questions of history, the contemporary world and identity.

Marsja holds a BFA from Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts & Design in Stockholm (2017) and was a recipient of the Stena Foundation Culture Scholarship in 2023 and the Maria Bonnier Dahlin Stipend in 2019.

He has recently exhibited at Örebro Konsthall (Örebro, 2025), Gammel Strand (Copenhagen, 2024), Buffalo AKG Art Museum (Buffalo, 2024), Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma (Helsinki, 2024), Gothenburg Museum of Art (2023), NEVVEN (Bologna, 2024 and Gothenburg, 2021), Göteborgs Konsthall (2023 and 2020), Moderna Museet (Stockholm, 2022), Lyon Contemporary Art Biennale (2022), Luleå Biennial (2022 and 2018), The Sámi Center for Contemporary Art (Karasjok, 2021), Röhsska Museet (Gothenburg, 2021), and Bonniers Konsthall (Stockholm, 2019) among others.

Marsja lives and works in Gothenburg, Sweden.