ÁRA

‘Tradition and contemporary inspiration. Friendship and family warmth. Yoik and improvisation’ – this is how ARA describe themselves. In their music the ensemble refer to the traditional singing of Scandinavian Sami. At present the yoik is a vital part of the Sami cultural identity, as an element of pre-Christian beliefs which has been forbidden for centuries.

Traditional Scandinavian songs talk about love, roots and the lives of the people of the far North, about good and evil witch doctors fighting for domination over people and the world. We won't find what a typical song bears in the compositions. The yoik is a song with a cyclic composition, without a vivid beginning or ending, a short melodic phrase is many times repeated with only minor alterations. The piece eddies, forms a loop and disappears...

ARA revives this forgotten tradition, an element of shamanic rituals in a new contemporary entourage. The music express the identity of people, places, animals, and paints intimate portraits, and draws infinite winter landscapes from sounds and words.