Online exhibition about the author and artist Johan Turi celebrating the centenary of the release of his book MUITTALUS SAMID BIRRA.

Online exhibition about Johan Turi

...  this book will be read all over the world ...
The Sami Archives present an online exhibition about the writer and artist Johan Turi on the occasion of the centenary of the publication of the book MUITTALUS SAMID BIRRA. The book has been translated into several European languages ​​as well as Japanese. Johan Turi was born in Guovdageaidnu 12.3.1854. As an adult, he established himself in the Dalma reindeer siida (reindeer herding groups) Čohkkiras in the Swedish part of the Sami area. Johan Turi was known as a wolf hunter, a bear hunter and a reindeer herder, but in 1908 he authored a Sami language manuscript. The handwritten manuscript became the famous MUITTALUS SAMID BIRRA. In the manuscript, Johan Turi made ​​14 hand-drawn illustrations. His book is the first non-religious book written in the Sami language that was published. Johan Turi was assisted and inspired by the artist Emlie Demant from Copenhagen in writing this book. It was written during a two-month long stay in a hut at Duortnojávri; Torneträsk. The book became popular and MUITTALUS SAMID BIRRA was printed in several editions and reviewed in several newspapers in Scandinavia. This online exhibition is designed in connecting with a seminar on Johan Turi held in Guovdageaidnu, Norway in November 2010. The organizers were the Sami University College and the Sami Archives.