TORGEIR VASSVIK (Sápmi, Norway) “Where words fail, music speaks“

Extract from the movie “Wo Worte nicht hinreichen“ by Josephine Links. With the Sámi musician Torgeir Vassvik as one of the protagonists. The sequences follow Torgeir on his way from his birthplace Gamvik in Finnmark (Norway) on the shore of the Arctic Sea to the Rudolstadt Festival (Germany), where he plays an overwhelming concert in a fullmoon night with thunderstorm and lightning. Torgeir: “Speaking about music is not easy. Many feelings can’t be expressed in words. Music can take you further. Where words fail, music speaks. Many of my songs originated in the nature around Gamvik and my experience there. We are returning nature to mankind. This is our music. When the Norwegian state was founded, the aim was to have one single culture. Sámi culture was ignored, and our cultural heritage was supressed. The state used hard assimilation politics. Joik is probably the oldest vocal music in Europe. It’s been performed for about years. For me it’s important to feel that