2016
ONE YEAR AFTER THE PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS: WHAT IS GOING ON, FINLAND?
#ActivismTuesday April 19th 2016 marked the one-year anniversary of the Finnish parliamentary elections. Festival of Political Photography invited photographers and artists to produce photographs that told their views on the current state of Finland. The exhibition spread out on the streets of Helsinki.
Project’s photographers/artists:
Stefan BremerIiris Heikka
Sara Hornig
Tuomas Linna
Sami Parkkinen
Miikka Pirinen
Perttu Saksa
Sanni Seppo
Adolfo Vera
Häiriköt-päämaja ( Jani Leinonen, Jari Tamminen ja Harro Koskinen)
Tärähtäneet Ämmät (Katriina Haikala ja Vilma Metteri)
MOBILE ALBUMS
#Photographystories
In the spring of 2016, the Finnish Museum of Photography, in cooperation with the study programme of museology at the University of Helsinki and the Festival of Political Photography, implemented a project that collected photographs by asylum seekers who had recently arrived in Finland, as well as memories and stories related to these photographs.
A total of 41 photographs were added to the museum’s collection. The donors were asked to choose 5–10 photographs stored on their mobile phones that meant the most to them. Often, the images formed a story about their home country, their difficult journey through Europe, and their hopes and dreams for Finland. The photographs describe the history of the people awaiting the decisions on their asylum applications at the reception centres, while capturing their new daily life in Finland. The interviews that were conducted when the images were donated to the museum added up to 10 hours of material.
Ahmed Alalousi, from Iraq, who worked on the project, edited the footage into a video in which the donors describe the images that are precious to them. Alalousi himself arrived in Finland in autumn 2015 as an asylum seeker, and he worked on the project as an interpreter, photographer and expert.
Mobile albums were exhibited at the Finnish Museum of Photography‘s Process space as part of the The Festival of Political Photography 3.2.–9.4.2017.
Homeless Sleep
#Lullaby sound installation at the Finnish Museum of Photography 15.3-24.3.2016Sound installation Koditon uni (Homeless Sleep) consisted of lullabies from different parts of the world. The lullabies formed a mass of sounds where listeners could recognize features of different musical cultures but also the universal need to provide safety and care for a child who falls asleep. Most of the songs were recorded in Finland and sung by musicians or music enthusiasts who had moved to Finland from different countries.
The format of the installation consisted of a “Sonic thread”, a chain of small loudspeakers, that permitted distinguishing the individual songs and voices from the mass of sounds by approaching each of the small loudspeakers one by one. Alternatively it was possible to listen to the chaotic mass of repeating melodies, where both rest and unrest were present.
Team: Alejandro Olarte, Outi Korhonen and 18 singers in different languages