Johtin - Wandring
Art and Sales Exhibition at Alta Museum from the 9th of November 2024 to the 4th of May 2025
In this exhibition, artists Josef Halse and Hilde Skancke Pedersen exhibit together. Their different modes of expression create contrasts and tensions within the exhibition space. Josef, in his abstract paintings, incorporates impressions from nature and is influenced by shifting light and colours through the seasons. Hilde works with various techniques such as textiles, painting, and collage. She is inspired by life in Finnmark and Sami culture and society. Several of her works carry a political undertone, where nature often becomes a battleground for Sami rights.
The exhibition consists of paintings, installations, and textile works.
Josef Halse, born on the 25th of April 1951, is a Sami visual artist from Kautokeino, residing in Alta. He studied painting at the National College of Art and Design in Oslo.
In his work, Josef focuses on the interplay of various impressions of nature, such as contrasts, light, and movement, and strives to express this spontaneously. The motifs are not directly recognisable but often appear in a more abstract form. Josef is also a musician and participated in the National Ballet's tour Northern Norway Dances in 1994, organised by the Norwegian Opera.
Josef was a member of the Sami Artist Group (Sámi Dáidujoavku) in Masi, which initiated the founding of the Sami Artists’ Union (Sámi Dáiddačehpiid Searvi). He has participated in group exhibitions both nationally and internationally and undertaken study trips to Russia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy. Furthermore, his works have been acquired by the Sami Parliament's Art Procurement Committee for the Arts Unit, RiddoDuottarMuseat, Troms County Council, Finnmark County Council, the Sami Cultural Council, Alta Municipality, Tromsø Municipality, and the Norwegian Arts Council. Josef is one of 150 artists who participated in the National Museum's opening exhibition. He was also a member of the artistic jury that selected artworks for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's report to the Norwegian Parliament on the Norwegian state’s assimilation policies towards the Sami, Kven, and Forest Finns.
Top image: An untitled work by Josef Halse.
Hilde Skancke Pedersen, born in Hammerfest in 1953, resides in Kautokeino. Hilde graduated from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and the Creative Writing Programme at the University of Tromsø.
She primarily works with visual art but is also active in performance, stage texts, poetry, and scenography. As a Sámi artist, Hilde often highlights the survival of fragile life and the struggle for culture and nature against intense external pressures.
Hilde has exhibited her works in many solo exhibitions in Finnmark, as well as at the SOFT Gallery in Oslo. She has also participated in the opening exhibition of the new National Museum, at the Kochi-Muziris Biennale in India, in the group exhibition Sensing Nature from Within at Moderna Museet in Malmö, and in the group exhibition Speaking Back at Kunsthaus Hamburg. She has exhibited at the Autumn Exhibition (Høstutstillingen) and in Tendenser 2024 – I de rette hender (In the Right Hands) at Galleri F 15. In 2024, Hilde is part of the summer exhibition Gálgat mohkiid, duogŋat gokčasiid at Kunstnerforbundet in Oslo. Her works have been acquired by institutions such as the Sámi Parliament and the National Museum.
