Southern Sami yoik on Taiwan

Riddu Riđđu is bringing Marja Helena Fjellheim Mortensson to an international music festival on Taiwan. 

At this years Riddu Riđđu Festival the souther Sami yoiker Marja Helena Mortenson from Engerdal was presented at Riddu Riđđu as our ”Young artist of the year”. Mortensson attracted attention and was praised for her distinctive voice and strong stage presence. Her songs are influenced by her upbringing in a reindeerherding family, and evolve around a close relationship with nature, issues related to Norwegian carnivore conservation policies, the survival of reindeerherding as a lifestyle and the Sami language.    

Now she has been booked as part of the line-up for this years Migration Music Festival in Taipei, Taiwan, an annual festival held in October. Mortensson says: “ this is an event I could not turn down. It will be exciting to experience Taiwanese culture while also being able show them the cultural traditions of my people”.

The program for this years Migration focuses on the importance of song traditions among indigenous peoples. Mortensson will, together with well-known indigenous singers from Taiwan and abroad, introduce the Taiwanese audience to musics mediating qualities and it`s importance among indigenous peoples.

Mongolian singer Urna Chahar-Tugch and Taiwans own Inka Mbing from the islands indigenous group Tayal are among the other performers. A common trait among all the artists is their usage of their own traditional language in their music. Mortensson sings and yoiks in distinct souther Sami, a language that is greatly endangered and only spoken by a very small portion of the population. Riddu Riđđu looks forward to introduce Mortenssons music to the Taiwanese audience.