How Are You/Kak Dela?
Community Art Project in Finland and Russian Carelia
with Kaisu Paavilainen
with Kaisu Paavilainen
In this community art project we walked into people's everyday life and asked: "How are you?". The idea was to find out, using artistic methods, what is important and meaningful in life. What are the prerequisites for a good life?
The project workshops were carried out in Finland (Hyvinkää, Lappeenranta, Kajaani, Kerava) and Russian Karelia (Vuokkiniemi) in 2004–2008 among both children and adults. The material produced was compiled into pieces of art presenting the everyday life, dreams and stories. The pieces were shown in several exhibitions in Finnish art museums and the village school of Vuokkiniemi.
We also made an art publication about the project. If this is of interest to you, feel free to contact me (see bottom of the page)!
Parts of the project:
THE BOARDS – How are you? Write a message!
TWO SETTINGS – video installation: children make their favorite dishes; photos of the dishes projected on tables; paintings with recipes
WIND PLACE – video installation: a view on a Carelian graveyard with a white ribbon hung on a cross, swinging in the wind, meaning that someone is thinking of the dead person; in the audio, Maikki from Vuokkiniemi describes how a corpse is prepared for the burial; towels with the names of the closest people written on them, made by children
FLEA MARKET/NOT FOR SALE – installation made of 20 tables with stories about the most defining moments of people's lifes
SORTING SITE – sound installation where five people describe their lives, helping others and being helped; 2nd hand clothing and objects
PORTRAIT OF THE SELF IN 20 YEARS' TIME – mixed media on mdf board: children's dreams about the future
MOTHER AND FATHER – installation of acrylic paintings on mdf board: children's paintings about textiles that remind them of their parents
The project workshops were carried out in Finland (Hyvinkää, Lappeenranta, Kajaani, Kerava) and Russian Karelia (Vuokkiniemi) in 2004–2008 among both children and adults. The material produced was compiled into pieces of art presenting the everyday life, dreams and stories. The pieces were shown in several exhibitions in Finnish art museums and the village school of Vuokkiniemi.
We also made an art publication about the project. If this is of interest to you, feel free to contact me (see bottom of the page)!
Parts of the project:
THE BOARDS – How are you? Write a message!
TWO SETTINGS – video installation: children make their favorite dishes; photos of the dishes projected on tables; paintings with recipes
WIND PLACE – video installation: a view on a Carelian graveyard with a white ribbon hung on a cross, swinging in the wind, meaning that someone is thinking of the dead person; in the audio, Maikki from Vuokkiniemi describes how a corpse is prepared for the burial; towels with the names of the closest people written on them, made by children
FLEA MARKET/NOT FOR SALE – installation made of 20 tables with stories about the most defining moments of people's lifes
SORTING SITE – sound installation where five people describe their lives, helping others and being helped; 2nd hand clothing and objects
PORTRAIT OF THE SELF IN 20 YEARS' TIME – mixed media on mdf board: children's dreams about the future
MOTHER AND FATHER – installation of acrylic paintings on mdf board: children's paintings about textiles that remind them of their parents
