Ánddir Ivvár Ivvár/Iver Jåks
The Many Possibilities Between Two (Drawings)

In this collection of drawings and sketches by Iver Jåks, poetic knowledge is manifest as a visual artistic practice. Known for creating works inspired by Sámi culture, through prints, sculptures, and installations, Jåks consistently viewed drawing as an essential part of his practice: a method for engaging, understanding, and creating. On loan from the library and Art in Public Space (KORO) collections of UiT (the Arctic University of Norway) and the Iver Jåks Archive in Tromsø, the collected works point to the practice of duodji, commonly understood as centuries old Sámi craftsmanship. By drawing duodji objects sourced from museum collections, Sápmi landscapes, and studies for his own projects, the artist transforms this understanding beyond craft to embrace all creative activity.

Displayed in Bergen Kunsthall’s exhibition halls, Jåks’s drawings propose a blurring of the lines that separate art from artefact, as is practised in Sámi culture, so that they hold and inform of parallel visual histories. They invite viewers to visually engage with sight and what’s made visible in ways that move beyond colonial and modern frameworks — ways that foreground poetic knowledge, and lived experiences where art is an essential vernacular element, rather than being confined to the field of art. Furthermore, this collection of works approaches Jåks’s drawing practice as a living resource for understanding connections between human and more-than-human lives, for recalling Sámi cultural insights to inspire us away from human centric positions, and for recognising the importance of art in sustaining these inspirations.

Ánddir Ivvár Ivvár/Iver Jåks (b. Karasjok, 1932, d. 2007) is one of the most influential artists from Sápmi and northern Norway. Working through practices of duodji, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, and installation, Jåks drew on Sámi ways of life, materials, spirituality, and philosophy to introduce precise and intimate artistic compositions. His work consistently brought Sámi cultural elements to the fore and contributed to its revitalisation in education, organisational life, and museum contexts. Jåks’s practice is known for expanding the understanding of duodji as referring to all forms of creative endeavour, and, in doing so, leaving a significant legacy that continues to inspire new generations of artists. Jåks was the subject of many solo exhibitions in his lifetime. Amongst these is a group of his drawings and found object sculptures dating from 1970 to 2000, which was posthumously featured in documenta 14 (2017).

A special thanks goes to Hanne Hammer Stien, Jan Martin Berg, and Kristoffer Dolmen for their invaluable advice, and to the generous lenders for making this display possible.