EU’s Firstborn Indigenous Opera Navigates Questions of Assimilation in Both Subject and Form
My review of Ovllá, a new opera premiered as part of Oulu2026
Because my review of Ovllá is published in The Observer as part of its selection as a runner-up for this year’s Anthony Burgess Prize in Arts Journalism, I will not be publishing my show notes, here, and instead direct you to read more off-site. I was absolutely delighted by the performance and wish its creators continued reach and success.
Performance Date: 5 February 2026
A language’s first opera is no small matter. For the Sámi, the only recognized indigenous people in the European Union, every choice within that first opera will be read politically, perhaps even before it is read artistically. Only a few months after Sweden witnessed the premiere of Eatnama Váibmu (The Heart of the Earth), a short opera in Northern Sámi based on indigenous creation myths, Finland welcomed the first full-length Sámi-language opera, Ovllá, as part of the city of Oulu’s year as the European Capital of Culture…
