Summary of individual project in REDO
Ritualising Diaspora and re-occupying Kåfjord
I will explore the permeable boundaries between ritual and performance, indigeneity and non-indigeneity, communal assemblage and individualisation, by comparing practices at the annual Sami Riddu Riddu festival in Northern Norway with rituals conducted among Maori and Pacific Islander diaspora groups in London, UK.
Indigenous communities worldwide are currently drawing on established but ever-evolving cultural resources for new purposes. Presented as stages in cultural revitalisation and/or celebrated as resources for cultural resilience and community well-being, public performances rooted in “traditional” ritual forms and knowledge allow indigenous participants to seek relevant ways of relating to new locations and diverse assemblies.
In doing so, the subproject seeks to enrich understandings of ritual as a privileged medium in the mobilization of cultural resources.