The Plenary Hall - «The Sami Parliament's most sacred space«

The Sami Parliament's plenary hall is a beautiful, solemn and powerful room. In this room, Sami political decisions are made. The chairs on which the Sami parliament representatives sit are made of tanned reindeer skin, a well-known material that is widely used in “duodji,” the Northern Sámi term for Sami handicraft. The plenary hall is cone-shaped and high-ceilinged. The outer wall is tight and light is let in from the top of the cone shape in openings in the construction. The base is shaped like a circle, like the floor of a traditional Sámi lavvo. This is the distinctive part of the main building. The multi-disciplinary artist Hilde Skance Pedersen from Hammerfest has created the artwork that dominates the main wall. The artwork, called Luottat or “Tracks” in English, is made of etched zinc with gold leaf, hammered metal and oil paint. The artist has etched archeological traces from Sami living and burial sites on metal plates. The lectern is made of the unique rock Masi quartzite, Náránášgeađgi, which is found only in Maze, an area near Kautokeino. The emerald green color is due to the fact that the stone contains a lot of a rare mica mineral called fuchsite. Together with white quartz and feldspar, a beautiful wavy pattern is formed on the lectern.