Marja Helander (b. 1965) is an award-winning Sámi artist and filmmaker from Finland. She graduated from the University of Art and Design in Helsinki in 1999. Her earlier work explored her identity between the Finnish and Sámi cultures.

Her recent photographic work has focused on the northern landscape, exploring the link between the mining industry and today’s standard of living and culture of consumption, particularly the impact of mining on the sensitive Sami nature.

In addition to landscapes, the artist presents a human who takes the form of an animal, thus identifying with old Sami beliefs. “I want to highlight the corporeality of people and how humans are just one animal species among many, dependent on nature, ecosystems and land. We are part of the cyclicity of nature; a pile of particles and molecules.”

Her latest works include ÁFRUVVÁ (2022) and BIRDS IN THE EARTH (2018) that won several awards and was a part of Sundance Film Festival 2019 short film competition.