Finland is Guest of Honour of Frankfurt International Book Fair 2014. In conjunction with the fair, the Frankfurter Kunstverein is presenting the exhibition Matters of Time. Artists from Finland. The group exhibition brings together works by eight artists and artist duos, offering an indepth look at diverse approaches within contemporary Finnish art.
Using different media, including photography, video, sculpture, sound, and computer animation, the exhibited works address the nature of time and metaphors of transience.
More than in almost any other Nordic country, in Finland the rhythm of life is closely linked to nature and the changing light conditions. The activeness of being outside during the white nights of summer alternates with the reclusive, slowed-down life inside during the darkness of winter. In such Nordic countries the passage of time can thus be perceived as being either fast or very slow. The participating artists address this range of perceptions in different ways: by creating a sensual impression of the transition between inside and outside, by experimenting with space and time through the use of the body, sound, or language, or by employing instructions for action resulting from collective socio-political projects. When engaging with the works the viewers are con- fronted with their own individual perception of time and space, and their awareness for the passage of time is heightened.
Participating artists / artist duos: Maija Blåfield, Tommi Grönlund & Petteri Nisunen, IC-98 (Visa Suonpää & Patrik Söderlund), Mikko Kuorinki, Minna Långström, Salla Myllylä, Elena Näsänen, Pink Twins (Juha & Vesa Vehviläinen).
Curator: Holger Kube Ventura
Selected collateral programme
July 24 | 8 pm
Opening of the Exhibition
Speakers:
Holger Kube Ventura (Director, Frankfurter Kunstverein)
and Iris Schwanck (Director, FILI and Finnland. Cool. Frankfurt Book Fair. Guest of Honour of 2014)
starting at 10 pm:
DJ-set by Tommi Grönlund (Sähkö recordings, Helsinki / Artist of the exhibition)
August 6 | 7 pm
Film Screening
by and with Erkka Nissinen (Artist)
September 4 | 8 pm
Lectures
“Finnish Design as a Symbol of National Identity”
by Kristine Hebenstreit
(Project Nordic Images and Perspectives)
“Design-oriented Thinking for an Easier Life”
by Pekka Timonen (Executive Director of World Design capital Helsinki 2012)
September 11 | 8 pm
Performances
“Man-a-machine: schizoproduction” by Tero Nauha (Artist) and
“SOIL”
by Essi Kausalainen (Artist)
Moderated by: Eva Maria Gauß (Senior Researcher, University of Marburg / Performer)
September 16 | 8 pm
Finnish Tango Evening with Lecture
“Longing, Melancholy and Nostalgia—Music and Dance as an Expression of the Finnish Soul”
by Anke Vogel (Project Nordic Images and Perspectives),
followed by Live Music
October 14 | 11 am–7 pm
Final Presentation SCHULSTuDIO #18
“Reports from Time”
with participating students
Matter of Time. Artists from Finland 25 July – 12 October 2014, Frankfurter Kunstverein
The exhibition is supported by FILI – Finnish Literature Exchange and Frame Visual Art Finland.
Photos
Pink Twins: Miracle, 2012. Single channel.
Elena Näsänen: Passerby, 2013. Single channel.