Aage Gaup: Hábmet máhccama/Sculpting a Return

Aage Gaup (1943–2021) was born in Bissojohka/Børselv on the Porsáŋgguvuotna/Porsanger Fjord in the far north of Norway. The war and the subsequent forced evacuation from Finnmárku/Finnmark meant that he grew up in Verma in Romsdalen, far from his biological family and his Sámi origins. He later reconnected with his heritage through art. One of the most distinctive Nordic sculptors of his generation, Gaup developed a powerful, poetic visual language that combined abstract expression with Sámi spirituality and duodji traditions.

A co-founder of the influential Máze Group and the Sámi Artists Union, Gaup played a key role in shaping contemporary Sámi art. His work explored identity, memory, displacement and belonging, while helping place Sámi art within a global Indigenous context.

About the book – The exhibition and catalogue bring together monumental sculptures, installations, scenographic models and maquettes, highlighting his unique synthesis of international modernism and Sámi cultural heritage.

Contributors – Texts by Lena Essling, Harald Gaski, Hanna Horsberg Hansen, Geir Tore Holm and Joa Ljungberg.

• Editors: Lena Essling, Joa Ljungberg
• Graphic design: Studio Kölqvist
• Language: Sámi, English and Swedish (trilingual)
• Pages: 200
• Images: c. 150
• Size: 21.7 × 28 cm
• Binding: Softcover
• Publisher: Co-published with Verlag der Buchhandlung Walther und Franz König
• ISBN: 978-3-7533-1130-2