Exhibition: Britta Marakatt-Labba

For the very first time, an exhibition of Marakatt-Labba’s works on paper is being presented! Over the past decade, Britta Marakatt-Labba has made an almost astonishing breakthrough. Her embroidered stories connect the underworld, the upper world and the ground we walk on, in accordance with the worldview of Sámi mythology. With needle and thread, she stitches together the historical and the symbolic, transforming it all into a breathtaking odyssey. Her subjects revolve around Sámi life close to nature, but also colonialism, loss and resistance— the face of racism, human greed and animals’ lost grazing lands. Britta Marakatt-Labba has become internationally known for her remarkable embroideries. Among the most famous is the 24-metre-long panoramic embroidery Historjá (2003–2007), which depicts Sámi life, history and worldview in tiny stitches on linen. By contrast, Marakatt-Labba’s drawings and watercolours are virtually unknown; until now, she has kept these works from public view. These sensitive, sometimes spontaneous and always evocative images, created mainly without any intention of showing them to the public, are thematically close to her embroideries. The works on paper revisit similar subjects, but in a more intimate form of expression. Here, we follow the development of her artistic visual language and the emergence of different aesthetic ideas. The exhibition at Nordiska Akvarellmuseet focuses on Britta Marakatt-Labba’s works on paper, shown here for the first time. This also opens up several perspectives on the artist’s practice. The exhibition includes around 140 works, mainly watercolours, drawings and sketches, complemented by a selection of embroideries and prints.

About the artist
Britta Marakatt-Labba was born in 1951 in Idivuoma, Sápmi. She grew up in a reindeer-herding family, with Northern Sámi as her mother tongue. After studying at Sunderby folk high school outside Luleå and the University of Design and Crafts (HDK) in Gothenburg, she returned to her home region in the late 1970s. In 1978, she was one of the founders of the Masi Group and helped establish a Sámi artists’ organisation. During the 1980s, Britta Marakatt-Labba took part in the Alta protests, which she later depicted in the well-known work “The Crows” (1981). Since the 1980s, Britta Marakatt-Labba’s art has been included in public and regional collections in the Nordic countries. Her international breakthrough came in 2017, when her 24-metre-long embroidery Historjá (2003–2007) was shown at documenta 14 in Kassel, Germany. Since then, her art has attracted considerable international interest and been exhibited around the world. She now lives and works in Övre Soppero.

OPENING HOURS, NORDISKA AKVARELLMUSEET: Tuesday–Sunday 11:00–16:00 (closed Mondays). Opening hours may vary in connection with programme events. The latest information is available on the website.

Image: Britta Marakatt-Labba, Proposal for lithograph, commission from Konstfrämjandet (detail), 1990–1992 © Britta Marakatt-Labba / Bildupphovsrätt 2026