This exhibition shed light on Saami perspectives through video game design. Saami video games are still a relatively new phenomenon, even though games, game making, and play are nothing new to the Saami people. As Saami communities continued to embrace technology and digital media, Saami game design grow in popularity and importance.

Outi Laiti has been working with Saami games since 2014. Over the decade, more than a hundred participants created over 40 games. The games chosen for this exhibition were created between 2014 and 2024. Some of them were born in game development events in Utsjoki, Finland, which brought together game developers from around the world to make games about Saaminess. Some of these games were professional products for the gaming industry. Together, these pieces went beyond typical Saami representation and offered glimpses of contemporary Saaminess. By imagining Saami futurisms, they reached beyond what existed in Saami games and asked, “What could be?”

This exhibition was supported by the Kone Foundation project Biocultural Heritage and Non-Linear Time.

Exhibition team:
Curator: Outi Laiti
Graphics and layout: Annakaisa Kultima
Logo: Sofi Kurtti
Themes: Marjaana Auranen, Outi Laiti, Vuokko Hirvonen, Inker-Anni Linkola-Aikio, Christopher Hamilton
Translations: Ilona Kivinen and Outi Laiti