Anja Örns “In Memory of a River” in the Mini Cinema

Who remembers the waterfall that stopped, the rapids that grew silent? When the exploitation of the rivers in Norrbotten began on an industrial scale in the early 1900s, their natural movements were manipulated with embankments and concrete dams. Around the same period, artists from the south travelled to Sápmi to paint rapids and waterfalls.

In the essay film, “In Memory of a River”, Anja Örn reflects on the price of the wealth generated by water in motion. She turns to nature scenes in art history to find documentation of the lost waters that were used to build the nation, and which have also become an archive of memories. Who portrayed the river, whose gaze has shaped our collective memory?

“In Memory of a River” (12.40 min) is one of a total of 373 new acquisitions that constitute the museum’s extensive project “Swedish Acquisitions 2021”.

From 2 April 2024 the documentary “Killing Time” (2011) by Kent Klich is showing in the Mini cinema.