BLOOD CLUB: Founding Meeting 2018

about performance

Dividing people into cultural races based on descent is something we have long since stopped doing. But in the common interpersonal understanding of what characterizes different cultures, heritage and family affiliation are still important. This is not least true in Sápmi. The Sami do not have their own state that defines a common identity. Seen from a distance – geographically or culturally – the question of whether one is Sami or Norwegian is simple. Up close, it is more complicated. Belonging, or the lack thereof, is embedded in our bodies. Shame also sits hard, both an old sense of inferiority and the certainty that one's lineage belongs to the oppressors. But pride in where we come from is also deeply internalized in us.

At the founding meeting, the public witnessed the founders' genetic tests being revealed. The club members, i.e. the public, were allowed to vote on which genetic profile the leader of the Blood Club should have, and guess the results of the founders' genetic tests. Regular elements of the Blood Club such as blood sampling and singing were introduced.