Vástádus eana – The answer is land

The seven performers bring about a vocal landscape of polyphonic traditional songs and new ones by the composer and bandleader Frode Fjellheim. For the piece is also about the landscape, one’s own land, the protection of traditional territory. The formerly nomadic Sámi live in the northern tip of Scandinavia, distributed through four countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Hunting, fishing and reindeer-breeding have been their livelihood for centuries. Today they are struggling to maintain their ecological balance, their reindeer herds, their way of life and their culture.  

The performers hauntingly examine their own histories and their shared longing for mutual belonging. Their themes are community and kinship between people, with nature and with the earth we all share.

The Norwegian radio station NRK says: ‘Powerfully and quietly great. (…) It is about what home can be, and the answer lies in the meaning of community. Home is where your herd is.’