Arctic Research Center Monthly Seminar in July 2024 was held
Date&Time: Friday, July 26, 2024, 13:30-14:30
Method: Hybrid (Online and In-person)
Language: English
Participants: 19 people (Online 11, In-person 8)
Venue: Joint Research Laboratory, ARC 1F
Lecturer: Yumi TANAKA, Assistant professor
Affiliation: Faculty of Humanities and Human Sciences, Hokkaido University
Presentation Title: “From a Handicraft to the Forest in Finland”
Abstract:
This presentation shows the connection between nature and culture, the local and the global from the traditional handicraft “kuksa”. “Kuksa” is the handicraft of Finland and the indigenous Sámi people. “Kuksa” is the Finnish word of a cup made from a birch burl. It is a popular souvenir of Finland and Lapland, and in recent years it has known well in Japan for the hiking boom. The price of “kuksa” varies widely depending on the material, whether it is made by hand or not, and whether it has the Sámi duodji mark, which guarantees authentic Sámi handicrafts. “Kuksa” questions what is “authenticity” and “tradition” from the perspective of making and selling handicrafts. In addition, it questions the forest which has inherited from the past to the present in Finland. By the perspective of the difficulty of getting birch burls, “kuksa” visualizes the network that connects nature and culture, the local and the global.
