Hello, my name is Suvi
Järvelä-Hagström, and I work as Head
of Cultural Affairs at the Embassy of Finland. Welcome to today's concert! The Embassy and the American
Folklife Center at the Library of Congress are proud
to be partners in supporting the Finnish and Sámi artists
in today's concert. We are delighted to present
Finnish and Sámi culture to you through this event. First, a couple of
words about Finland. Some of you may know Finland
for our education system, technological innovations,
stable society or women-led government. One fun fact is that
there are more saunas than cars in Finland. 75 % of Finland is
covered by forest, and there are almost
190 000 lakes. Finns have a very close
relationship to nature, and nature has always
inspired Finnish artists. Finland rings with music: in
relation to its population, there are more symphony
orchestras, music festivals and heavy metal bands than
anywhere else in the world. Music kindergarten
is very popular and there are music
lessons even for babies. Musical traditions are woven into the very fabric
of Finland's society. I would also like to tell
you about the Sámi people. They constitute the
only indigenous people of the European Union. Around 10 000 Sámi
live in Finland, speaking three different
Sámi languages. The strong nature relation of
the Sámi people is expressed in Sámi languages, where
you find hundreds of words for example for snow
or for reindeer. For many indigenous peoples, nature protection means
safeguarding livelihoods. The knowledge of
indigenous peoples can help in the adaptation
to climate change. It is crucial to
support the revival of the indigenous languages and
culture, or they will disappear. The diversity of
cultures, customs, beliefs and languages is something to
be protected and cherished. Promoting equality,
including the rights of indigenous peoples, is
a priority for Finland, also on international level. Now, I would like to shortly
introduce our artists, Kardemimmit and Annamaret:
Kardemimmit is a band of four lovely women playing
the Finnish national instrument, string instrument kantele. They sing in a style
known as "reki." 19th century dancing music, Eastern Finnish archaic
improvisation and ancient poem singing are all
present in Kardemimmit's music. Ánnámáret lives in
northermost Finland. Her concert gains influence
from the rich tradition of joik and the Sami homeland's
lively culture, nature and everyday life. Joik is a unique form
of cultural expression for the Sami people, and
it is said joik is one of Europe's oldest
song traditions. Ánnámáret's music embodies
the seek for one's origins and expresses thoughts about
life at the turning point of traditional and
modern culture. Ánnámáret's joik
and the sounds of the old traditional
Finnish bow lyre intertwine with electronic music. You will be able to listen
to these concerts again and find all the concerts that
have been part of the Homegrown at Home series on the Library of Congress's website
www.loc.gov/concerts/folklife or the Library's
YouTube Channel. Lots of amazing sound
recordings can be found online on the American Folklife
Center's website. You are most welcome to visit
also the Embassy's website www.finlandabroad.fi/usa and
our social media channels. I would like to warmly thank
the American Folklife Center for taking these concerts
in your concert series and for the cooperation in
making these concerts happen. Thank you also for
our wonderful artists for bringing your
art and music to us. Thank you for joining
and enjoy the concerts!
