Who’s landscape?
Fell-Lapland Contemporary Art weeks, Ars Nartae is being established for the second time in Gallery Kellokas, in the beginning of the skiing holiday season 2023. Artworks were selected through open call under the thematic umbrella “Who’s landscape?”
The exhibition is produced in collaboration with the Artist association of Lapland and Cultural Association Valsa. The curatorial team is Tanja Koistinen and Eveliina Mänty-Ollanen Antti Huhtala is responsible of the visual marketing.
“This year, 127 artists applied with 466 artworks. The curatorial process was huge, but very rewarding. What an honour it is to get to select artworks from such a wide selection of art all around Finland and also abroad. Many excellent artworks and artists were left unchosen; the curatorial decisions were made in the terms of entity and theme.” Tanja Koistinen from Artists association of Lapland.
“Last year we were seeking art and artists that were somehow linked to the North. This year we had a different theme, and it obviously touched many. The chosen artworks form an ensemble, which tells a story about the landscape: Landscape has a memory, selfvalue and its own perspective. The artworks live the theme even when the maker is not absent”, says Eveliina Mänty-Ollanen from Valsa.
Ars Nartae aims to be an yearly event, which examines themes related to North trough art. The key elements of the exhibition are a critical point of view and principles of fair art: Depending on funding, the organizers make the exhibition as profitable for artists as possible. At its least there will be no costs for the artists to participate, and cultural workers will also get paid for their work. This year Ars Nartae got funding from Taike, Art promotion center Finland.
