Eva Silvén, Nordiska Museet

2008-2013

From the decades before and after World War II, there are extensive Sami collections in the Nordiska Museet, created by the curator and researcher Ernst Manker (1893-1972), in order to establish "a central museum for Sami culture". This was a period of continued industrialization and modernization, which affected the Sami society as well as the Swedish in general. Manker didn't oppose the change but wanted to "rescue" what he saw as a vanishing traditional Sami culture, for the benefit of future researchers and for the Sami themselves. The aim of the project has been to study what role Manker's activities may have played in his time. Did he legitimize Sami emancipation, i.e. the aspiration for modern life styles, diversity, and new rights, by respectfully turning older ways of living into heritage? Or did the mainly historical representation lock the image of the contemporary Sami to an essentialized and homogenous past? These are questions that assume that museums play a role in society by contributing to notions of ethnic identity and social position.

The principal source material has been Manker's collections of objects, photographs, field notes, newspaper cuttings, correspondence, publications, and exhibition records in the Nordiska Museet. Relevant material has also been studied in other archives and in private hands. In addition, new research material has been created through interviews and field trips. Four keywords have permeated the project from the beginning: representation, network, materiality, and authenticity, although the concept of materiality has been extended, compared to the application. Some ethical and political aspects have also been added.

THE PROJECT'S THREE MAIN RESULTS

1. The first result is new knowledge about Manker's work in its contemporary political and scholarly context. Despite his once leading role, he hasn't previously been the subject of research; there are chiefly a handful of obituaries telling his life story. Within my project, different parts of his activities have been presented in substudies, which are to be followed by a monograph later this year, in a partially comparative perspective.

The monograph will be a critical and contextualized "scholar biography" that focuses on Manker and his time period, as a method of working out problems related to museum research and collecting from a societal view. A finding of particular relevance to the two initial questions concerns the effect of different kinds of representations. Manker's historically focused permanent exhibition gave, along with the object collections and his most well-known and reproduced photographs, a traditional picture of Sami, with the reindeer in focus. On the contrary, in Manker's travel writing a vivid picture of change and hybridity appeared in both texts and images. Consequently, among his parallel narratives, some of them acted to stereotype and essentialize the Sami, while the effect of others seems to have been more emancipating.

2. The second result is about some ethical and political aspects of Manker's work, which in general has been regarded as unproblematic and benevolent. The project has uncovered new dimensions, based on earlier unknown facts as well as new approaches to research about indigenous peoples and minorities - which also lies behind the choice of the monograph's main title: "Friction".

Manker was active in parallel with the development of race biology and sometimes he used its terminology in his descriptions of Sami, although he didn't draw the same disparaging conclusions. It was probably the essentializing claims of race biology that were consistent with his interest in the "authentic" and "genuine" Sami. But apparently, like other ethnographers, he had mixed feelings when the scientific categories met with his own experiences. Another complication in the image of Manker is that he, in some private correspondence during World War II, expressed pro-Nazi sympathies, but beyond a few letters there are no explicit traces of this attitude. However, as in the case of race biology, this expresses the need for research about these ideologies' relation to disciplines like ethnology and ethnography.

Another aspect with an ethical and political dimension is represented by human remains. After Manker had begun doing fieldwork with archaeologists, he participated in excavations of graves and places of sacrifice. A direct link between past and present is offered by a case, where the human remains Manker brought to Stockholm in 1950 were reburied in 2002.

3. The third result is the deepening of the concept of materiality, made in connection with the program "The Sociomaterial Dynamics of Museums Collections", a collaboration carried out together with archaeologist Fredrik Svanberg, the National Historical Museum, and ethnologist Lotten Gustafsson Reinius, the Museum of Ethnography. The aim is to create new knowledge about the joint role of the collections and collectors at the three national museums, where my substudy includes the moving of Sami material between the museums. Manker tried (but didn't succeed fully) to transfer all Sami artefacts to the Nordiska Museet, thereby institutionally and materially manifesting the Sami as being a part of the Swedish cultural history, instead of archeology or ethnography. The program's focus on actor-network-theory has also made it possible to regard collections as a long-lasting sociomaterial heritage, which in turn may extend the project's aim to not only include the effect of Manker's business in his own time, but also today (see above).

NEW RESEARCH QUESTIONS GENERATED BY THE PROJECT
Results 2 and 3 are issues that have emerged from the work process; they are of course included in the monograph but will also be developed in other contexts.

Another issue, raised within the project, is how the reindeer has become a key symbol for Sami culture and identity, despite the fact that the Sami community, both historically and today, is complex with a variety of life styles. There are several factors behind this, but how can museums and their presentations - in this case particularly Manker and the Nordiska Museet - have contributed?

More recently, indigenous representation in museums has become a growing international research question, with "decolonizing/indigenous methodology" as both a museological subfield and a scholarly perspective. How such a methodology could be applied in Sami related research is yet another issue that has been vitalized within the project.

THE PROJECT'S TWO MAIN PUBLICATIONS

The most important publication is the above mentioned monograph, in Swedish with an extensive English summary: "Friction. Ernst Manker, the Nordiska Museet, and the Sami Cultural Heritage" (publ. by the Nordiska Museet, autumn 2013, ca. 220 pp., ill.). It is organized into seven chapters: Introduction; Who was Ernst Manker?; People, places, narratives; Drums and other artefacts; Exhibitions and performances; Lappologists and friends of the Sami; Constructing Saminess. I also intend to summarize the results of the project in an English article for an international journal.

The second most important publication is a set of texts that primarily relates to the theme "The Sociomaterial Dynamics of Museum Collections". Two conference papers are included, "Nomadising Sami Collections" (2011) and "Contested Sami Heritage: Drums and sieidis on the move" (2013), a program description in the journal Nordic Museology (2012), and the chapter "Constructing a Sami Cultural Heritage: Essentialism or Emancipation "(coming, 2013). A sequel is supposed to follow.

OTHER TYPES OF MEDIATION THAN PUBLICATIONS

Preliminary results have continuously been presented at conferences and seminars, nationally and internationally, among scholars as well as in more popular scientific contexts.

International research conferences:
- Rivers to Cross: Building Bridges or Fording Water? Traditional and Academic Knowledge in Sami Research. Centre for Sami Research, Umeå Univ. 2009.
- Substances. 31. Nordic Conference on Ethnology and Folklore. Helsingfors Univ. 2009.
- Sources to Sami Culture and History: New Challenges. 4. International Sami Research Seminar. History of Religions/Stockholm Univ., the Nordiska Museet, Ájtte 2009.
- Research on Museums and Archives. Arts Council Norway, Oslo 2011.
- Current Issues in European Cultural Studies. ACSIS (Advanced Cultural Studies in Sweden), Linköping Univ. 2011.
- National Museums and the Negotiation of Difficult Pasts. EuNaMus (European National Museums: Identity Politics, the Uses of the Past and the European Citizen), Brussels 2012.
- Dynamics of Cultural Differences. 32. Nordic Conference on Ethnology and Folklore. Univ. of Bergen 2012.

Swedish scholarly and popular scientific contexts:
Seminars and lectures at the Nordiska Museet; Stockholm University (ethnology, museology, international curating education); Västerbotten County Museum, Umeå (documentary photography); Stockholm Sami Association (Sami life and culture); the Research Archives, Umeå University Library (Ernst Manker, the Nordiska Museet, and the Sami cultural heritage).

As indicated above and by the papers and publications, the project's subject and aim are related to several research environments. The project has also served as the basis for requests for peer reviews, write-ups, networks, and the assignment as co-opponent at the public defence of Catherine Baglo's PhD-thesis: "Gone astray? Living exhibitions of Sami in Europe and America" (2011, University of Tromsø, Norway). For the spring 2014, together with colleagues at the University of Oslo, I'm now planning a conference about "Representing and Collecting Sami Cultures in Museums".

Publications

Friktion. Ernst Manker, Nordiska museet och det samiska kulturarvet. Stockholm: Nordiska museet 2013. Ca 220 sid, ill. (Kommande; manus under arbete.)

”Ernst Manker som fotograf.” I Andersson, Kajsa, red. Sápmi – i ord och bild. Ort: Förlag 2013, ca 20 sid. (Kommande.)

”Constructing a Sami cultural heritage: essentialism or emancipation.” I Bertell, Maths, red. On sources to Sami culture and history: New perspectives. Ort: Mittuniversitetet 2013, ca 20 sid. (Under utgivning, peer reviewed.)

”Contested Sami heritage: drums and sieidis on the move.” I Poulot, Dominique, Lanzarote Guiral, José María & Bodenstein, Felicity, red. National museums and the negotiation of difficult pasts. Conference proceedings from EuNaMus, Brussels, January 26–27, 2012. Linköping University Electronic Press 2013, s. 173–186. (Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 82.) (EuNaMus Report 8.) http://www.ep.liu.se/ecp_home/index.en.aspx?issue=082

”Museisamlingarnas sociomateriella dynamik.” Tillsammans med Lotten Gustafsson Reinius & Fredrik Svanberg. Nordisk Museologi 2012:2, s. 97–106. Engelsk version: The sociomaterial dynamics of museum collections: http://nordiskmuseologi.org/English/Svanberg.pdf

”Konstruktionen av ett samiskt kulturarv: Ernst Manker och den lapska ombudskåren.” I Sköld, Peter & Stoor, Krister, red. Långa perspektiv. Samisk forskning och traditionell kunskap. Umeå: Umeå universitet/Vaartoe – Centrum för samisk forskning 2012, s. 121–132. (Skrifter från Centrum för samisk forskning 17.)

”Nomadising Sami collections.” I Fredriksson, Martin, red. Current issues in European cultural studies. Conference proceedings. Linköping: ACSIS, Advanced Cultural Studies Institute of Sweden/Linköping University Press 2011, s. 271–275. (Linköping Electronic Conference Proceedings 62.) http://www.ep.liu.se/ecp/062/029/ecp11062029.pdf

”Utställningar och föreställningar. Om samerna, Nordiska museet och Skansen.” I Mundal, Else & Rydving, Håkan, red. Samer som ”de andra”, samer om ”de andra”. Identitet och etnicitet i nordiska kulturmöten. Umeå: Umeå universitetet/Samiska studier 2010, s. 195–207. (Samiska studier 6.)

”Ernst Manker 1893–1972.” I Hellspong, Mats & Skott, Fredrik, red. Svenska etnologer och folklorister. Uppsala: Kungl Gustav Adolfs Akademien för svensk folkkultur 2010, s. 135–141. (Acta Academie Regiae Gustavi Adolphi 109.)

”Lapps and Sami – narrative and display at the Nordiska Museet.” I Andersson, Kajsa, red. L’Image du Sápmi. Études comparées. Örebro: Örebro universitet, Humanistiska institutionen 2009, s. 74–91.  (Humanistica Oerebroensia. Artes et linguae 15.)


Papers

”Vem berättar vems historia för vem? Ernst Manker, Nordiska museet och det samiska kulturarvet.” Föreläsningsserien Mötesplats Arkivet. Forskningsarkivet vid Umeå universitetsbibliotek, 6 mars 2013.

”Samiskt kulturarv – en dynamisk resurs.” Paper vid Dynamics of cultural differences, 32. Nordiska etnolog- och folkloristkongressen. Universitetet i Bergen, 18–20 juni 2012. (Sessionen: Museer og ulikheters kulturelle dynamik.)

”Sami exhibitions at the Nordiska Museet.” Föredrag i anslutning till I samernas rike 002: Souvenir, utställning av Anna Linder och Lara Szabo Greisman. Internationella Curatorutbildningen, Stockholms universitet, 9 maj 2012.

”Ernst Manker – sameforskare och fotograf.” Föredrag vid Samerna – kultur, språk och näringsverksamhet. Sameföreningen i Stockholm, ABF m. fl., 10 mars 2012.

”Contested Sami heritage: drums and sieidis on the move.” Paper vid National museums and the negotiation of difficult pasts. International conference, European National Museums project (Eunamus), Bryssel, 26–27 januari 2012.

”Ernst Manker, sameforskare och fotograf.” Fredagsseminarium, Nordiska museet, 16 september 2011.

”Nomadising objects and collections: defining the Sami.” Paper vid Current issues in European cultural studies. ACSIS conference, Linköpings universitet, 15–17 juni 2011. (Session: Current trends and issues in museum research.)
 
”Ernst Manker, sameforskare och fotograf.” Föreläsning vid seminariet Bilden av den andre. Västerbottens museum, Umeå, 7–8 april 2011.

”Från cold case till hot stuff – forskning om museer och arkiv.” Föredrag vid seminarium/workshop Forskning om museer og arkiv. Norsk kulturråd, Oslo, 16–17 mars 2011.

”Konstruktionen av ett samiskt kulturarv: Ernst Manker och Nordiska museet.” Högre seminarium, Etnologiska avdelningen, Stockholms universitet, 19 maj 2010.

”Nordiska museets roll i konstruktionen av ett samiskt kulturarv.” Föreläsning i Museivetenskap. Stockholms universitet, 2 mars 2010.

”Konstruktionen av ett samiskt kulturarv: essentialism eller emancipation.” Paper till Sources to Sami culture and history: New challenges. 4. International Sami Research Seminar. Religionshistoria/Stockholms universitet, Nordiska museet, Ájtte, 30 november–1 december 2009.

Projektpresentation: ”Konstruktionen av ett samiskt kulturarv: Ernst Manker och Nordiska museet”. Etnologisk ämneskonferens, Stockholms universitet, 20 november 2009.

”The construction of a Sami cultural heritage: essentialism or emancipation.” Paper vid Substances/Byggstenar. 31. Nordiska etnolog- och folkloristkongressen. Institutionen för kulturforskning, Helsingfors universitet, 18–21 aug 2009. (Session: Ideas and ideologies in the search of knowledge.)

”Konstruktionen av ett samiskt kulturarv: Ernst Manker och Nordiska museet.” Fredagsseminarium, Nordiska museet, 3 april 2009.

”Konstruktionen av ett samiskt kulturarv: Ernst Manker och Nordiska museet.” Paper till konferensen Rivers to cross/Älvar att korsa: Bygga broar eller vada? Traditionell och akademisk kunskap i samisk forskning. Vaartoe – Centrum för samisk forskning, Umeå universitet, 4–6 mars 2009.