In 2020, the Artists’ Association of Lapland (AAL) celebrates 30 years with an international exhibition involving a dialogue between an invited group of Nordic artists and a selection of artists from the AAL. The project, jointly put together by Misha del Val (FI) & Andreas Hoffmann (NO/Greenland - Arctic Culture Lab), under the name of ‘Wiping the Ice-Cream Off Your Face - 30 Nordic Artists’ Perspectives on De-Arcticfication to Celebrate 30 Years of the Artists’ Association of Lapland’ will be held at Kakslauttanen Art Gallery from 1st of July to 15th of October 2021.
The ‘Wiping the Ice-Cream Off Your Face’ project aims at reconsidering notions about the North and Contemporary Arctic Culture outside the mainstream, conventional way of thinking, in a process we are calling ‘De-arctification’.
“Many -below and above the arctic circle- have an interest in seeing the Arctic just as a big ball of ice-cream: strawberry pink of polar skies and creamy white of snowy forests. This is a phenomenon, known as ‘Arctification’, by which partial and simplistic views and ideas are fabricated, imposed and sustained on the Arctic, to suit political and economical agendas (take, for instance, the winter tourism industry) and/or a widespread naive sentimentality. The peoples living in the region, its rich traditions and culture, get reduced, through this oversimplification, as an exotic other, a barren wintery destination, or a geopolitical periphery -in ways that remind us too much to the postulates that Edward W. Said discussed in his work Orientalism.”
The ‘De-arcticfication’ forces are directed towards confronting and dispelling inaccurate notions about the region; promoting perspectives on the multi-layered complexity of the North, and broadening any provisional definition about an Arctic identity. Artists are invited and encouraged to reflect on the reality, create up-to-date understandings, and share perspectives on the Nordic Arctic as a place to live, work and raise our children, culturally able and robust.
‘Wiping the Ice-Cream Off Your Face’ project is funded by the Nordic Culture Fund.
Artists in the exhibition:
The ‘Wiping the Ice-Cream Off Your Face’ project aims at reconsidering notions about the North and Contemporary Arctic Culture outside the mainstream, conventional way of thinking, in a process we are calling ‘De-arctification’.
“Many -below and above the arctic circle- have an interest in seeing the Arctic just as a big ball of ice-cream: strawberry pink of polar skies and creamy white of snowy forests. This is a phenomenon, known as ‘Arctification’, by which partial and simplistic views and ideas are fabricated, imposed and sustained on the Arctic, to suit political and economical agendas (take, for instance, the winter tourism industry) and/or a widespread naive sentimentality. The peoples living in the region, its rich traditions and culture, get reduced, through this oversimplification, as an exotic other, a barren wintery destination, or a geopolitical periphery -in ways that remind us too much to the postulates that Edward W. Said discussed in his work Orientalism.”
The ‘De-arcticfication’ forces are directed towards confronting and dispelling inaccurate notions about the region; promoting perspectives on the multi-layered complexity of the North, and broadening any provisional definition about an Arctic identity. Artists are invited and encouraged to reflect on the reality, create up-to-date understandings, and share perspectives on the Nordic Arctic as a place to live, work and raise our children, culturally able and robust.
‘Wiping the Ice-Cream Off Your Face’ project is funded by the Nordic Culture Fund.
Artists in the exhibition:
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Amanda Riffo (IS)
Arttu Nieminen (FI) Eliina Hurtig (FI) Friday Milk (RU) Hanna Kanto (FI) Henri Hagman (FI) Jaakko Heikkilä (FI) Jouko Alapartanen (FI) Julie Edel Hardenberg (GL) Kaija Kiuru (FI) Karoliina Paatos (FI) Konsta Huusko (FI) Leila Lipiainen (FI) Mari Oikarinen (FI) Mariane Lyngsø and Pia Möller-Light (DK) |
Outi Pieski (FI)
Panu Johansson (FI) Pattern Collective (FI) Peter Winquist (Åland) Pirkko Mäkelä-Haapalinna (FI) Raisa Raekallio (FI) Randi Samsonsen (FO) Risto Immonen (FI) Seija Ulkuniemi (FI) Sanna Haimila (FI) Satu Kalliokuusi (FI) Savu Korteniemi (FI) Tanya Busse (NO) Timo Jokela (FI) Tomas Colbengtson (SE) Tuomas Korkalo (FI) |
Image: Arttu Nieminen, Avaaruskaipuu, 2020