15.5.–14.9.2024
Kumpula
manor, Jyrängöntie 2, 00550 Helsinki, Finland
Splitting Gates – Sounds Afloat
For the first time in the history of the Finnish Museum of Natural History, Luomus (located at Kumpula Botanic Garden), the national geological collection will host a special art exhibition in 2024. This exhibition intervenes in the architectural features of the historical Kumpula manor, the geological specimens and the museum display of the mineral world.
Here, the visitors are encouraged to take their time and savour the marvellous geological displays (of meteorites, minerals, rocks and fossils) and the artistic interventions of Inma Herrera, Shoji Kato, Mari Sunna, Masao Yamamoto and Charlotta Östlund. Together they hold meta-communications.
Sculptures, paintings and photographs – each fascinating artwork has associations with the human psyche and action, and with natural elements (such as organisms, stone, metal, plants and bare bodies). They are placed in specific micro-niches in the museum and suggest that they, too, constitute a part of the world, but their locations and times, or even their contexts, are not meant to be pinned down as the whole installation evokes feelings related to levitation, mutation, motion and abstraction.
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The exhibition was conceived and curated by Shoji Kato and realised through conversations with the participating artists, a geologist and the senior curator of Luomus, Arto Luttinen. This exhibition was supported by Niilo Helanderin säätiö and was made with the courtesy of the team of Luomus, Galerie Anhava, Eungyung Kim and Lauri Vainio.
Galleria Sculptor 1.–24.3.2024
The exhibition Variations is based on reflections on the constant change of matter and of existence: working with fragile plant parts brings the processes of change tangibly into the present moment. By observing the surrounding vegetation, one can perceive the processes of creation and decay. This process of change, which usually takes place over a few months, can in other cases take millions of years, or be hidden within our own bodies.
The exhibition includes sculptural works and stop motion animation. Several of the works in the exhibition are made from different seeds. For example, the spatial work Beam moves with a small volume of material through almost the whole gallery space. The English word "beam" represents both something seemingly intangible and a physical support that enables and supports an entire structure.
The Sediment series explores artistic work as an ecosystem. What is often a mental process in artistic work – where new works are based on the experiences of previous works – is also something concrete in the Sediment series: parts of older works are included in new works.
In music, the term "variation" refers to the transformation of existing material into a new entity, while in biology it can refer to differences between individuals of a species. The title of the exhibition, Variations, can be seen as a reference to a matter and its variations which are essentially one.
The exhibition has been supported by the Arts Promotion Center Finland and Konstsamfundet. Artist’s work is supported by the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland and the Arts Promotion Center Finland.