Projects

We got a grant, 20 000 euros, from the Nordic Culture Fund for the project “The ‘De-arcticfication’ in Nordic Arts”. The project aims at invigorating regional identity, promoting cultural pride and fostering cultural resilience in the Nordic Arctic region. We share perspectives on the Nordic Arctic as a place to live, work and raise our children, culturally able and robust. The project includes several elements such as Nordic Co-Curatorial practice, the production of a concept exhibition involving a dialogue between Nordic artists and a selection of artists from the Artists’ Association of Lapland, the socially and environmentally engaged art event ‘Odd Garden’ (Kumma Puutarha) in Rovaniemi in 2021.

‘Wiping the Ice-Cream Off Your Face’ -exhibition is curated by Misha del Val (Fl) and Andreas Hoffmann (NO/Greenland – Arctic Culture Lab). It presents featuring Nordic artists from Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, Faroe Islands and Aland, plus northern Russia, and a selection of artists from the Artists Association of Lapland. The ‘Odd Garden’ (Kumma puutarha), a week-long art symposium bringing environmental art to the heart of the city of Rovaniemi (Finland), is produced in collaboration with the city of Rovaniemi and curated by Tuomas Korkalo.

The main themes running through both of these larger events -and the other subprojects are promoting a debate on the significance of contemporary Arctic culture and its place within Nordic culture, reconsider notions about the North outside the mainstream, conventional way of thinking, and allow the North to find and speak its own voice, in a process we are calling ‘De-arctification’.

Young Arctic Artists 2021 continues the series of international exhibition promoting emerging artists related to the Arctic. Exhibitions are managed by Artists’ Association of Lapland and co-curated by the Finnish – Kven curatorial team: Savu Korteniemi (FI), Panu Johansson (FI), Katriina Pedersen (NO) and Åsne Kummeneje Mellem (NO).

The aim of this exhibition series is to map out the scene of young contemporary art in the selected northern geographic area, advance its visibility and to create new networking possibilities for artists and curators.

With 4th edition the concept of Young Arctic Artist is updated by creating structures and conventions together with the people of the Arctic.

The Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and Future” (German acronym EVZ) supports the project “Prosessi / Der Prozess Part One” with grant 30 000 euros

The project is included in the funding programme “Remembrance of forced labour and forgotten victims”. The project deals with the questions of violent practices, focusing to the Finnish-German wartime secret collaboration and the destiny of the Jewish refugees in Finland during Second World War. Especially the project focuses on the stories from wartime Finnish forced labour camps in Lapland and Suursaari island.

Project is managed by the Artists’ Association of Lapland. Executor and coordinator of the project is visual artist and writer Savu E. Korteniemi (MFA).

www.korteniemi.eu/prosessi

The title of the project Art2World refers to artists and artworks moving from studios to clients and exhibitions in Lapland, Finland and abroad. The project focused on development of visual art managerment and agency. Finnish Ministry on Culture and Education has granted the project for 35 000 Euro.

Two paintings were commissioned to eldery peoples´homes by the Artists Association of Lapland in Rovaniemi. The care institutions were Tapionkoti in Rovaniemi and Aaltorannan palvelutalo in Saarenkylä. The project was supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland and city of Rovaniemi.

Pirkko Mäkelä-Haapalinna, Monet vedet [A Number of Waters], 2019, 160 x 120 cm, Aaltorannan palvelutalo.

Eemil Karila, Muistojen joki [River of Memories], 2019, tempera ja öljymaali pellavalle, 150 cm x 200 cm, Tapionkoti, kuva: Arto Liiti

Dancer Titta Court and composer-musician Erling Fredriksson in care institution in Tornio. Photo by Jaakko Heikkilä.

Finnish Culture Fund granted the Artists Association of Lapland to produce artists´residencies in care institutions in Lapland. The support was 3000 Euro.

A large-scale development project—Environmental Art for Tourism was carried out at the Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland and the Artists Association of Lapland. The project aimed to increase the use of environmental art in tourism companies in Finnish Lapland. Business cooperation was sought in the project, whereby artists and experts in the university formed design teams. Content creation to the service ArtLocator was one the responsibilites of the AAL. (www.artlocator.io)

The publication of the project

The Art Gear project was run right after the period when the number of refugees and asylum seekers abruptly increased in Europe in 2015. Immigration in this form and to this extent also increased in Northern Finland. The project aimed to create spaces for new encounters and to tackle harmful social divisions and radicalisation of youth through arts-based action. Ultimately, its goal was to promote social justice by creating spaces for strengthening youth empowerment, agency and cohesion in a diversifying society. In this regard, the aim was to find ways for ‘bi-directional integration’, which refers to equalising access to cultural activities regardless of background for both locals and immigrants. Bi-directionality also refers to a mutual process in which the locals and immigrants are given support for integration into the new multi- and intercultural situation. The project was funded by the European Union, European Social Fund and led by the University of Lapland, Faculty of Art and Design.

Final publication of the project