Crafting with nature: Rock paintings as Art of relations in embodied relational learning

Abstract

<p> This chapter explores the affordances present at Salmijärvi rock art site in Finland and the human experience of them in local Sami and Finnish cultural context. Rock paintings are intriguingly intertwined with land- and soundscape developed through geological and hydrological processes over millions of years. The anthropo- and zoomorphic features of rock and the exceptional echo facilitate perceiving more-than-human people that inhabit the rock and initiate a process of connection and co-crafting. As part of a wider array of cultural practice with drumming, dancing, and offering, they contribute to the practices in Art of relations and intergenerational embodied relational learning. This relational view challenges dichotomic ontologies and explores ways out of environmental crises toward sustainable futures. <br></p>