The stunning voice of Mari Boine, as she sings her songs inspired by the traditions of the Sámi people, transports the listener to the edges of the world—to Lapland, where the sun disappears for months during winter and then reemerges, ushering in a new, long Arctic summer.
Born in the Norwegian municipality of Karasjok, 260 km from the North Cape, the artist pursued full-time music and singing after completing her teaching studies. Her first recording came out in 1985, but success arrived four years later with the album Gula Gula, released by Peter Gabriel’s Real World label, which was then successfully exploring “world music” (as ethnic music was often called). The album has been described as “the expression of a woman living the conflict between two ways of thinking or two cultures”—the modern, European, cosmopolitan Norwegian one, and the traditional Sámi one.
Mari Boine’s repertoire blends the sounds (and language) of her homeland with jazz, rock, and other influences typical of world music, even distant ones like Andean music. Her work is closely tied to her commitment to defending minority cultures.
She has collaborated with Peter Gabriel and Jan Garbarek, composed music for film, and has won the Spellemannprisen—the Norwegian music award—multiple times. Her latest album, Alva, released in 2024, was described by critics as “an act of cultural, social, artistic, and musical resistance.”
