What the eye can’t see: On Johan Turi’s subtle truth-telling in his images and art

Abstract

So far, very little attention has been paid to Johan Turi’s artworks. His pencil drawings have mostly been regarded as illustrations of his narrative, and have been characterized as naive expressions. No mention has been made of the other art that Turi created. Aside from the drawings that were included in the original edition of Turi’s Muitalus sámiid birra as edited by Emilie Demant-Hatt, virtually none of Turi’s other pieces have ever been exhibited or published. They have gained visibility only through their inclusion in the anniversary edition of Muitalus, which appeared in 2010. In this article, some of Turi’s previously unknown artworks are interpreted as Turi’s attempts at creating Expressionist art. Turi was introduced to various forms of modern art at Hjalmar Lundbohm’s home in Kiruna, and also, most probably, while visiting Emilie Demant and Gudmund Hatt in Copenhagen in 1911. Turi’s artworks are also interesting in the way in which Turi combines realistic representations with images that are either surreal or that expose more than the human eye can actually see. Turi’s art transgresses the limits of photographic representation, and includes objects that are hidden from the human view. A major undertaking awaits art historians and indigenous methodologists to further analyze Johan Turi’s artworks in their cultural and historical contexts.