Renja Leino “Wind” 2011

In her sound work Wind Renja Leino, an artist based on the island of Korpo, made tangible the constant presence and significance of the sea wind in the archipelago environment. Leino’s new work consisted of a collection of stories told by the islanders about their experiences of the wind. They captured the way that natural phenomena, changes in the weather and the climate, have a greater effect on the everyday lives of the islanders than they do on urban communities. The stories flowed smoothly, between and across two languages, Swedish and Finnish, just like the daily life of the archipelago. 

During the summer 2011, the sound work could be listened to on the radio frequency 95.9 Mhz as you entered the archipelago on the first ferry. It was also played in Utö lighthouse, and has been acquired for it as a permanent installation. 

“The wind is an element that surrounds us all the time. It is a fundamental element here in the archipelago. Something that has always existed, always been here. There are 37 participants (between 7 and 83 years of age) in this piece, who all relate their own personal experiences, thoughts and anecdotes about the wind. There’s a whole spectrum of life and knowledge in these stories, often with a philosophical resonance. Someone who has lived on an island her entire life has seen the seasons change maybe 70-80 times. There is so much depth in that knowledge.” (Renja Leino interviewed by Lotta Petronella) 

Wind was commissioned by CAA as part of the exhibition Contemporary Art Archipelago. The sound work is presented now as part of a series of events Ecology of Change that revisits the exhibition that was realised as part of Turku 2011 European Capital of Culture programme a decade ago. The series is supported by the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland.

Tuuli  Vind  Wind  1

Tuuli  Vind  Wind  2

Tuuli  Vind  Wind  3

(FI)
CAAn Taru Elfving ja Lotta Petronella vierailivat syksyllä 2021 sateisella kävelyllä Paljasjalkapolulla juttelemassa taiteilijoiden Sandra Nyberg ja Pia Rousku-Hellgren kanssa Korppoon Retaisissa. Nyberg ja Rousku-Hellgren kertovat tässä podcastissa ympäristötaidenäyttelyn synnystä 2012, sen paikallisesta merkityksestä ja kehityksestä yhä suositummaksi vierailukohteeksi Turun saaristossa. 

Yhtenä innoittajana Paljasjalkapolulle oli Contemporary Art Archipelago -näyttelyhanke, joka toi yhteen saaristossa ja kansainvälisesti työskenteleviä taiteilijoita 2011. Paikkasidonnaisten teosten laaja näyttely levisi eri puolille saaristoa ja tutustutti sekä paikallisen yhteisön että matkailijoita monimuotoiseen nykytaiteeseen. Rousku-Hellgren ja Nyberg perustivat Paljasjalkapolun jatkamaan kunnianhimoista nykytaidetoimintaa saaristossa. 

Paljasjalkapolku on nyt kymmenen vuoden ajan tukenut taiteilijoiden työskentelyä uusien teostuotantojen parissa. Samalla sen perustaksi ovat muodostuneet vahvat kansainväliset verkostot taiteilijoiden kesken ja tiivis yhteistyö muiden paikallisten kulttuurialan toimijoiden ja yritysten kanssa.


Paljasjalkapolku “antaa luvan mennä metsään” eli opastaa paitsi vuosittain vaihtuvien taideteosten äärelle, myös havainnoimaan ja kokemaan saariston luontoa. Sen suosio on kuitenkin koronavuosina yllättänyt taiteilijat niin, että 2022 kesällä Paljasjalkapolku oli väliaikaisesti suljettu, jotta metsä saa levätä.

Podcast on tuotettu osana hanketta Muutosten ekologiaa, joka tarkastelee kulttuurisia ja ekologisia muutoksia saaristossa sitten näyttelyn Contemporary Art Archipelago, joka toteutettiin osana Turku 2011 Euroopan kulttuuripääkaupunkivuoden ohjelmaa. Muutosten ekologiaa -tapahtumasarjaa tukee Svenska Kulturfonden.


(EN)
CAA went for a walk in a rainy autumn forest with the artists Sandra Nyberg and Pia Rousku-Hellgren at the Barefoot Path in the village of Retais on Korpo island. In this podcast, Nyberg and Rousku-Hellgren share their thoughts on the beginnings of the Barefoot Path annual environmental art exhibition, its increasing significance to artists and the local community, as well as its growing popularity as a destination in the Turku Archipelago.

Back in 2011, the Contemporary Art Archipelago exhibition brought together artists based in the archipelago with their peers working around the globe. The vast exhibition of new site-specific works spread across the islands and introduced contemporary art in its various forms both to new local audiences and to numerous visitors to the archipelago. It laid the ground for Barefoot Path, which was founded by Rousku-Hellgren and Nyberg to continue developing ambitious contemporary art programming in the region.

Barefoot Path has been commissioning new art works for the forest in Retais for ten years now. Its ethos has been to attentively nurture sustainable relations and practices. During this time, it has established strong international networks for artists and long-lasting collaborations with many cultural organisations and businesses in the archipelago.


In the words of Rousku-Hellgren and Nyberg, Barefoot Path “gives a permission to enter the woods”. It guides visitors not only to annually changing art works, but also invites them to encounter and attune to the island forest ecosystem. The surge in visitor numbers during the pandemic years has been so unexpected that the path was closed this summer (2022) to enable the environment to rest a little.

The podcast has been produced as part of a programme Ecology of Change, which revisits the exhibition Contemporary Art Archipelago realised as part of Turku 2011 European Capital of Culture programme. Ecology of Change is supported by the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland.

Paljasjalkapolku / Barfotastigen / Barefoot Path Podcast

(FI)
CAAn Taru Elfving ja Lotta Petronella tutustuivat AARK taiteilijaresidenssiin Korppoon saarella oppainaan taiteilija Renja Leino ja Bengt Andersson loppuvuodesta 2021. Leino ja Andersson avaavat tässä podcastissa ovet perustamaansa residenssitaloon ja kertovat sen toiminnasta. 

AARKin toiminta käynnistyi 2015, mutta sen taustalla on pitkäaikainen unelma kansainvälisestä taiteilijaresidenssistä, jonka tavoitteena on ollut “tuoda maailma saaristoon”. Residenssi on hiljalleen, asunto kerrallaan, täyttänyt koko vanhan lautturien talon elämällä. 50-luvun lopun pienkerrostalo ja sen huolella hoidettu piha toivottavat Korppooseen tulijat tervetulleeksi aivan Retaisten lauttarannassa, meren äärellä.

Viime vuosina AARKiin ovat löytäneetkin laaja joukko taiteilijoita ja tutkijoita eri aloilta ympäri maailman. Residenssi tarjoaa paitsi saariston rauhaa myös rennon yhteisöllisen ilmapiirin, joka ruokkii kohtaamisia sekä residenssiläisten kesken että ympäröivän luonnon ja paikallisten kanssa. Vuodenaikojen mukaan vaihtuvat elämän rytmit ovat täällä vahvasti läsnä. Leino ja Andersson
kertovat jonkun tiivistäneen, että tämä on “maailman syrjäisin urbaani kolkka”.

Podcast on tuotettu osana hanketta Muutosten ekologiaa, joka tarkastelee kulttuurisia ja ekologisia muutoksia saaristossa sitten näyttelyn Contemporary Art Archipelago, joka toteutettiin osana Turku 2011 Euroopan kulttuuripääkaupunkivuoden ohjelmaa. Muutosten ekologiaa -tapahtumasarjaa
tukee Svenska Kulturfonden.

(EN)
CAA’s Taru Elfving and Lotta Petronella got a tour of the AARK Archipelago Art Residency in Korpo with the founders of the residency, artist Renja Leino and Bengt Andersson, in late autumn 2021. In this podcast Leino and Andersson open the doors to the residency programme they host on the island of Korpo in Turku Archipelago. The podcast is in Finnish. 

AARK was founded in 2015 as a realisation of a longterm dream of an international artist residency with the aim to “bring the world to the archipelago”. The residency has gradually, one apartment at a time, brought back to life the house that used to be the home of ferrymen and their families. The small apartment block, built in the late 1950’s, and the carefully tended garden next to the Retais ferry port, right by the sea, welcomes the visitors to the island. Artists and researchers from diverse fields and from across the globe have found their way to AARK in recent years. 

The residency not only offers peace and quiet, but also a relaxed professional atmosphere, where unexpected encounters take place between the residents and with the surrounding environment and the local community. The rhythm of life follows the change of seasons here alongside the flow of marine traffic passing by. Leino and Andersson quote one of the former residents, who encapsulated their experience of AARK as “the most remote urban place”. 

The podcast has been produced as part of a programme Ecology of Change, which revisits the exhibition Contemporary Art Archipelago realised as part of Turku 2011 European Capital of Culture programme. The large international exhibition project did not become a regular feature in the archipelago, but rather it nurtured more sustainable and longer-term, locally grounded initiatives. Ecology of Change is supported by the Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland.

AARK Archipelago Art Residency in Korpo Podcast

CAA Contemporary Art Archipelago is a curatorial collective supporting site-sensitive artistic work at the intersection of ecological, feminist and decolonial enquiries. CAA has been initiating and leading long-term multidisciplinary collaborations in the Turku Archipelago in the Baltic Sea since 2009.

Paljasjalkapolku / Barfotastigen / Barefoot Path Podcast

CAA Contemporary Art Archipelago

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