Welcome / About the Summit
Buerie båeteme! Welcome!
From the heart of Saepmie, we at Viermie K welcome you to the Arctic Arts Summit 2026 in Ubmeje/Umeå and to the lands, stories and artistic visions of the North. At the Arctic Arts Summit, we gather artists and institutions to make possible deep conversations between lands, peoples and futures.
Viermie K is a Sámi network for organizational, artistic and curatorial collaboration, born from the belief that Indigenous culture and art is a force that shapes Sapemie’s and the Arctic´s cultural, political, social and ecological realities. Rooted in Saepmie and connected across borders, we work to strengthen Sámi cultural sovereignty — to make visible the knowledge, memory, and innovation that flow through our people, languages and movements.
As we welcome you to Ubmeje in 2026, we invite you to listen deeply. To the sound of languages still spoken. To the knowledge we inherited long ago. To the rhythm of our joiks and to the silent voices of our lands. This Summit is an opportunity to move beyond representation, toward relationships and a common future.
During the Summit, Viermie K will host conversations, performances and encounters that center Sámi, Indigenous and Arctic perspectives within the global arts ecosystem. We welcome you to join these moments as compatriots in a shared creative future and hope that you make new networks and friends for life.
Let Arctic Arts Summit be a space where Arctic knowledge meets contemporary expression, where art becomes a bridge between histories and futures, and where every meeting is an act of recognition.
From Saepmie to the Arctic world — welcome to a summit of voices, visions and vitality.
Viermie K
Jerker Bexelius
Chair of the Board
Buerestbåhtieme, Buerie båeteme
Warm welcome to Sápmi and to Ubmeje.
On behalf of the Sámi Parliament, it is my honour to welcome you to our traditional lands – to a land that holds generations of knowledge, stories, and lived experiences.
You have gathered here from across the circumpolar region – artists, culture bearers, decision-makers, and storytellers – to share knowledge, experiences, and visions for the future.
Here in Ubmeje, you are on lands where the reindeer follow their natural migrations, and by the Ume River – a lifeline that for generations has carried people, and life itself. These are places that remind us of the connection between land, heritage, and survival.
Sápmi is not just a place, but a living landscape of languages, memories and relationships. Here, Sámi art and culture have always been a driving force – for identity, resistance, and creation. As in other parts of the Arctic, our stories are deeply intertwined with the land, and with one another.
The Arctic Arts Summit is an important meeting place. It strengthens cooperation across borders and brings forward Indigenous perspectives at a time when the Arctic is rapidly changing. Here, space is created for dialogue about the role of culture in societal development, self-determination, and sustainable futures.
I hope your days in Ubmeje are filled with inspiration, new connections, and bold ideas. That you listen, share, and carry with you what you experience here.
Johanna Njaita
Sámedikki ságadoalli / Chair of the Sami Parliament
