Uğur Aslan

This project explores the soundscape of Christmas in Finnish Lapland, where festive traditions, tourism, and indigenous Sámi cultural practices intersect. While Lapland is globally known as the “home of Santa Claus,” its seasonal atmosphere is not only visual but also deeply sonic: bells, choirs, reindeer sleighs, tourist performances, and the quiet presence of snow all contribute to a distinctive winter ambiance. The research focuses on how these layered sounds produce experiences of place, identity, and memory during the winter season. It also examines the relationship between globalized Christmas tourism and Sámi sonic traditions, including joik and winter environmental sounds, asking how different ways of listening shape cultural meaning in the Arctic. Combining ethnographic fieldwork, soundwalks, interviews, and high-quality field recordings, the project documents these seasonal sound environments during the peak Christmas period. It then translates the findings into an artistic output: a multichannel sound installation that reimagines the journey through Lapland’s winter soundscape as an immersive listening experience. By bringing together sound studies, ethnomusicology, and artistic research, the project highlights the often-overlooked auditory dimension of Christmas and positions sound as a key medium for understanding cultural transformation, tourism, and Arctic identities.