MICHELLE-MARIE LETELIER

The salmon and the coalfish

It was in the fall, when the salmon had already finished spawning and was gone far down the river.
Then it met the coalfish that swam up.
The salmon asked:
«Where are you going?»
– «I’m going up the river», said the coalfish
– «Are you going up the river? What kind of look do you have in the river?»
– «I have a beautiful enough look», said the coalfish – «I also have a shiny side».
– «You have no fat», said the salmon.
– «I have fat in the liver,» said the coalfish.
– «Hey, hey, and with that fat you’re going up the river! A little more fat I had in my flesh when I went up, but see how I look now!»
The coalfish began to think: the fat in my liver probably doesn’t keep me up to the river source.
And then it returned and left no more in its way. The place where they met, is still called Seistry, near Seida.

G. Balke, Karasjok

Published by Brita Pollan in the book Samiske Beretninger, 2005
Translated by Google in collaboration with Michelle-Marie Letelier

A spontaneous solo show at Small Projects (Tromsø, Norway)  that marked a farewell to a residency at Troms fylkeskultursenter in February 2019.

It encompassed a constellation of various elements that have been part of the project Transpose since 2016, including a new performative work Their Dead, a work on paper Luossa and a new arrangement with farmed salmon bones & other objects. The exhibition space was accompanied with a voice reflection by artist Ánde Somby.

A significant element was a dialogue with the architecture of the space, which is based on Sámi principles.