In 2024, UrbanApa will organize a series of discussions under the title State of Art. The series aims to spark conversation on the state of art – the ongoing multiple structural changes, global and local megatrends affecting art making as well as the value and potential of art in these times of crisis.
In this first discussion of the series, the focus is on the free field. In the coming years, the Finnish arts and culture sector will face unprecedented cuts, which will have unforeseen and most likely devastating effects. Different opportunities will be eroded, and those most precarious and vulnerable will bear the brunt. How to find collective ways to continue, dream, and plot in this new, dubious future? How to survive as a freelancer in a shaky and uncertain terrain?
The conversation will be facilitated by Isa Hukka, speakers Kaino Wennerstrand, Landys Roimola & Aarni Pieski.
Schedule
18:00 panel discussion
19:00 roundtable discussions
20:00-21:00 hangout at Bar tÿpo
Isa Hukka is an artist, writer, and facilitator based in Helsinki. They have studied philosophy and gender studies. They have done pioneer work in crip theory (rampateoria) in Finnish. In addition to participating in crip grassroot organizing and making performances in Helsinki, Hukka has published their award-winning poetry in various magazines. In 2022-23, they worked in Baltic Circle’s multi-year Coming Stage -project as a facilitator of a crip artistic working group. In this work, they focused particularly on developing trauma informed and accessible working methods. The piece ‘inviting precarious perspectives’ by Hukka and the working group received the Theatre Act of the Year 2023 award.
Aarni Pieski is a Sámi writer, artist and curator from Dálvadas, Sápmi and Helsinki, Finland. Pieski’s work explores the connections and dynamics of human beings and other living entities; collective experiences and traumas of different communities; lost, hidden and preserved histories; the afterlife and shifting times from a queer and Indigenous perspective. Pieski studies in the University of Arts Helsinki. Currently he is busy with seeking liberation and dreaming about a free Palestine.
Landys Roimola is an artist with a master’s degree in art from Aalto University and a bachelor’s degree from Saimaa Academy of Arts. Her works are based on observations about societal problems, identity and climate destruction. Her works have been included in solo and group exhibitions in Finland and abroad (Mänttä Art Festival, Kiasma URB, Tolima Art Museum, El Nogal, Eurocine film festival). Roimola is especially known for environmental and public artworks. Realizing that her roots are deep in the mountains of Colombia, but that she was allowed to live in a privileged Finland, the artist wants to understand her power and responsibilities through art. We are the foremothers of the future and it is important to be aware of the stories and actions we leave behind. Roimola is currently working on the themes of political landscape, otherness, adopted identity and inherited traumas. The artist’s ten-year struggle for nature also finally found its target in Colombia; being adopted, Roimola understands that she may never fully belong to any state, but she can grow her roots deep into the earth.
Kaino Wennerstrand’s latest performance work, ‘Empty Stage’, is currently showing at Helsinki City Theatre. Her works have been presented widely in Finnish galleries, museums, and festivals, along with international showings. In 2023-2025, her practice is supported by Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
Accessibility
The event is held on the first floor.
Accessibility Access from Lintulahdenkatu to the lobby:
– Front door width 100 cm – Threshold height 2 cm, depth 5 cm
Access from the lobby to the stairwell:
– Door width 87 cm, can be increased to 130 cm by opening a panel (wheelchair access perpendicular) – Ramp height from the door 4 cm, depth 40 cm– Threshold height (measured from the top of the ramp) 2 cm, depth 5 cm
Accessible toilets are on all floors.
For accessibility issues, please contact: info@tekstintalo.fi.