MEDHÅRS

Medhårs is an itching movement that travels along the skin, landing in a seam that becomes a sack, which becomes a stomach. Since 2023, Gideonsson/Londré has been following the work at Ájtte Mountain and Sami Museum, drawn to their willingness to house and simultaneously activate different types of materials, much like a “storage shed”, which is what the word Ájtte refers to. From the various functions of the storage shed, G/L explores what it means to carry a collection within one’s own body.

The exhibition is based on the earlier work of object conservator Elle Kuhmunen. In over 500 conservation reports, carried out from the mid-90s to 2006, she has approached and documented a wide variety of objects in different ways. A collection of interpretations that make visible numerous characteristics of these items, such as hair directions on different hides, damages, repairs, material interactions, and language combinations. G/L now builds upon this visual world through sculptural and performative works where Kuhmunen's drawings take on new forms. Kuhmunen also donated several objects to the Ájtte collection: two lye barrels, a bat, and reindeer warble larvae in different stages. These are things she believed were missing from the collection and that all contain a transformative potential: the reindeer warble fly that burrows into the skin and leaves different cavities behind, the lye that removes impurities, and the bat, like a shadowy creature that is never spoken of.