Ritni Ráste Pieski

Biography

Máret Ásllat Ivvár Ovllá Nilla Ritni Ráste, Ritni Ráste Pieski (he/they) is a Deanu river Sámi storyteller, dancer, performer, choreographer and drag artist. Decoloniality, collectivity, radical dreaming, utopias, drag, joy, playfulness, queering and humour are important to their artistic work. Pieski’s recent works include: common moves project with Sonya Lindfors, Eana diehtá – a short film about queer joy, decoloniality and the power of community, this is an invitation – a performance with Alen Nsambu at Amos Rex that critiques Western museum ethics, the radical decolonial queer utopia and performative gathering Girjái, and the collaboration with Maryan Abdulkarim and Sonya Lindfors in the radical decolonial dreaming We Should All Be Dreaming. He has also been particularly active in queer Sámi issues, as the main organiser of Sápmi Pride in 2021 and as one the faces of Helsinki Pride in 2023. In their own words, “I find the meaning of art in the fact that art at its best brings people together to dream and to challenge existing structures. Art can actively create another space for a moment, art can empower.”
Pieski graduated as a bachelor in dance in spring 2023. They were doing student exchange at HZT – Dance, Context and Choreography -programme in 2021-2022. In drag, he is known as Ritni Tears and as a band member of fuckboizband Hot Compost.