A person arrives to the shore and suddenly feels a huge urge to be intimate with the river. He starts his courtship.  

”the back and forth movement 

of his back arching 

rhythm like the  

spring migration”  

This demo performance precedes the performance that Young artist of the year, Aarni Pieski, will make for Riddu Sessions in 2027 with a working group.  

Performer: Vegard Bjørsmo 

Text: Aarni Pieski 

Direction and costume design: Klaudia Jokela & Aarni Pieski  

Graphic design: Varjo Sarsila 

Translations: Biret Haarla Pieski (Finnish-North Sámi), Vegard Bjørsmo (English-North Sámi), Aarni Pieski (Finnish-English) 

Photo in the costume: from Marjut Huuskonen’s book Stuorra-Jovnnan ladut, taken by Matti Morottaja in 1970 in the Dálvadas village area 

Artistic dialogue: Biret & Gáddjá Haarla Pieski 

Ollu giitu: Olmmáiváteatnu & Olmmáivággi 

The text was originally published by Multipöly in the Eurantie Window Publication in Helsinki 2025.  

 Bios:  

Aarni Pieski is a Sámi playwright, dramaturg, screenwriter and curator, from Dálvadas, Ohcejohka, Sápmi and Helsinki, Finland. He works multidisciplinarily in the fields of performing arts, film, literature, and visual arts. His work is often text-based, exploring themes of desire, history, and otherworldliness from a queer and Indigenous perspective. He’s currently studying in the Theatre Academy of the University of Arts Helsinki. 

Vegard Bjørsmo (25), from Karasjok, is a Sámi artist. He first gained national recognition at the age of 19 through NRK’s Stjernekamp and has since established himself as a musical theatre performer and recording artist under the name VEGARD. He is an Emmy-nominated seriescreator of the NRK drama series Oro jaska, for which he also co-composed the music and played one of the lead roles. 

Klaudia Jokela (b. 2003) is a theatre director beginning her third year of studies in the Theatre Academy of the University of Arts Helsinki. For her, processes are places of variation and play, from which performances reveal themselves. She focuses her stage work on collaboration with other artistic participants. For Klaudia, the stage is a heavily visual, powerful metaphorical tool for contemplating the contemporary and building new realities.