This autumn, in October and November, we show I Lay My Ear Against the Weave's Ear by Elina Waage Mikalsen in Notam's presentation room. 

Artist's description
The tools used in this installation belonged to my grandmother. She used them to spin and spin yarns, and to make traditional weavings from the Sámi area that I come from; Olmmávággi. The Sámi people are the indigenous people who live in what is now known as Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, in our own language known as Sápmi.

I've transformed these tools into instruments, or rather reused them as instruments for sound and music. For me, this has been a way of getting closer to the work and sound world of the tradition of making yarns and fabrics, to the people who have carried on the knowledge, the tools and materials - and how they communicate and tell stories.   

I have called the weighted loom "Mun bijan iežan beallji ránu beallji vuostá" - "I lay my ear against the weave's ear". Feel free to interact with this piece and play it, by passing your hand over the strings. 

The rhythmic sounds you hear from the installation come from the work "Láigi botnjasa mu gieđas" - "In my hand the swirling thread". This has previously been a spinning wheel.

The final work in the installation is "Ritmmaiguin sii sárdnot" - "Through the rhythms they speak". This is a tool for unravelling yarn, but also an instrument that can be activated in the same way as the loom.     

All these works are part of a series that I have been working on since 2019, commissioned by the Toronto Biennale 2024. The instruments are developed in collaboration with Notam.

The installation can be experienced in Notam's mediation room, Monday to Friday from 10:00 - 16:00 until 19 November.