The Mother of Drums - Artistic drums by Elli Maaret Helander
The exhibition’s “Mother of Drums” is the Sámi artist Elli Maaret Helander, who comes originally from Rovisuvanto in the Teno Valley. The paintings on Helander’s artistic drums tell Sámi stories that are partly new creations and partly based on Sámi heritage. - “Making a drum can be an experience that heals the person”, says Helander.
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Jun 11, 2010
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Oct 10, 2010
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| Contact Name | Arja Hartikainen |
| Contact Email | arja.hartikainen@samimuseum.fi |
| Contact Phone | +358 (0)40 579 3313 |
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Elli Maaret Helander (b. 1950) comes from the village of Rovisuvanto on the River Teno. She is known as a reviver of the Sámi drum-making tradition and as the mother of Ursula and Tuuni, or the group “The Girls of Angeli”. The Girls of Angeli were pioneers in making modern Sámi music that was based on tradition. As their mother, Elli Maaret sewed the clothes that Ursula and Tuuni wore in concerts. The first paintings, too, were created for the drums that the girls used on stage. The exhibition in Siida celebrates Elli Maaret Helander’s 60th anniversary; at the same time, it marks the artist’s return to her “own land” after the many years that she has run a tourist company further south.
The frames of the drums at display are made from aspen. The wood is first boiled and then bent around a circular mold. The mold is removed before the wood dries, and, thus, the drum is allowed to find its final natural and asymmetric shape without the mold. The drumhead is made from reindeer skin which has been dyed with bark after removing the hair from it. The images have been painted with acrylic colors instead of using the traditional alder bark.
For a Sámi shaman, the drum was a means of communication with the world of gods, and it was used, for example, in healing rites. Elli Maaret Helander hopes that people will not be afraid of drums but will rather see them as part of a rich Sámi heritage. Making a drum and painting the images on the drumhead can be a rewarding journey into one’s past and present.
The imagery of Helander’s drums are partly based on the figures of the traditional Sámi drums. However, Helander’s personal form language and the inclusion of new themes among the old symbols make the drumheads unique in style. The imagery of the traditional drums is based on either a heliocentric or a layered notion of the structure of the universe in which gods and the special elements of Sámi culture have a central position. Helander’s drums are an illustration of Sámi narratives and the relationship of the Sámi to the physical environment and the spiritual world. Her drums are, at the same time, both communal and personal.
For setting up the exhibition, Elli Maaret Helander has received support from the cultural appropriation of the Sámi Parliament.
The exhibition “The Mother of Drums” is open for the public at the Sámi Museum Siida from June 11 to October 10, 2010. During the summer season, Siida is open every day from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Further information:
Elli Maaret Helander, tel. +358 (0)400 296647, elli(at)saamelaisrummut.net, and Arja Hartikainen, Curator, Sámi Museum Siida, tel. +358 (0)40 579 3313, arja.hartikainen(at)samimuseum.fi
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