Midnight Skiing in Northern Finnmark, Norway

Building the Locality
By Marianne Elisabeth Lien, Sofia Josefine Spjuth
English

Every year, in early May, “The midnight ski for women” takes place on the Varanger peninsula in Northern Norway. Starting at midnight, and facilitated by the Båtsfjord male voice choir whose members provide fire, song and support along the way, the skiing event has become a carnivalesque ritual that transcends boundaries related to gender, season, and the unpredictability of Arctic weather. Focusing on movement, we approach this event as a way of making locality in a region where settlements are fragile and far between. We also highlight the landscape as a range of features that are in themselves dynamic, fleeting, and transparent, such as the wind, the snow and the soft darkness of an Arctic spring night when the midnight sun makes its very first appearance above the horizon.

Keywords

  • skiing
  • Arctic
  • locality
  • gender
  • Norway
Go to the article on Cairn-int.info