A lot happened before I came home – too much to write about, so I will update this blog over the next few days…
I need to include the wonderful trip to Lapland, the remainder of the time at Arteles, and then the final few days spent in St Petersburg on the visa-free trip from Helsinki.
Firstly, Lapland. I had no idea it would be so far away – it took me 10 hours on a train (sleeper) and then a bus to get to Ivalo. I was sending 5 nights in a wooden cabin in the forest
where there were plenty of wonderful walks around the surrounding forest. RUSKA was in full bloom and the colours were breathtaking…
I wanted to get to Inari to spend some time learning about Sami culture – but as the buses didn’t provide any reasonable transport, i ended up having to hitch the 40 kms there and again 40 kms back. it was well worth it as the Sami Museum is so full that it took the full day to absorb its displays…
both inside and out.
Then back at Arteles, things were hotting up for the final review of work – which for me was tricky as I had packed everything by that night and had to rely on a slide show to tell my Arteles story…I had created a shamanistic stick, which got placed beside the largest of the drawings for the final event. It also displayed possibilities to work in other situations…
This is where I left it on my last morning… back in the forest.