MISS MARIA NORDVALL

Biography

Nordvall is a first-year PhD researcher at University of Aberdeen and part of the project ArcHeritage. 

Her current research "Indigenising visual narratives: The use of Sámi dwellings in art as an embodiment of Sámi identity", seeks to investigate the use of Sámi dwellings as symbol(s) for the Sámi people in and through visual culture in Sweden with a focus on the late 19th century through to contemporary times. The investigation is positioned at a cross-section of issues of identity, culture, nationalism and the relationship of power structures to the cultural field ranging from laws, cosmology and architecture. Through an Indigenous etymological perspective, she plans to explore how the dwellings have been conceptualised across different time periods and contexts with a thematic approach. Although the research proposes to examine Sámi dwellings and their conceptualisation with a primary focus on the Swedish context, the studies aim is to contribute to something essential within the whole of Sápmi. As Nordvall argue, Sámi dwellings are linked together into a more common idea which stretches across newer and created national borders.