Group exhibition “One Picture Manifesto”

One Picture Manifesto

One picture is a work of art.
It is concise and includes all that is needed.
It suggests and reacts, provides responses, and renders new trails for thoughts. It is an opening and a closure.
One picture.
No more is needed.

“One Picture Manifesto” is a visual commentary on the practices of modern photographic art. It highlights the significance of a single photograph in a time that tends to celebrate serialism. The founding artists of the manifesto, artist Marja Pirilä (b. 1957), Harri Pälviranta (b. 1971), Maija Annikki Savolainen (b. 1980) and Maija Tammi (b.1985) want to challenge their own ways of creating art as well as photographic practices in general. Italian artist Alessandro Danidini de Sylva (b.1981) joined the examination of a single photographic image at the exhibition organised by gallery Matèria at Spazio Duale at Istituto Superiore di Fotograa, and Japanese artist, Hideo Anze (b. 1975), conjoined the project at this exhibition held at Kana Kawanishi Photography.

In the exhibition, each artist presents one independent visual work of art that is not supported by long written descriptions or complementing works from the same artist. The aim is to invite the viewer to stop and look at one photo for a prolonged period of time. The manifesto is also intended to encourage people to consider to what extent the form and even the very existence of photographic art is dictated by the parameters of photographic competitions, festivals and grant applications.

“One Picture Manifesto” was first shown at the Finnish Museum of Photography in Helsinki, Finland, September, 2019, and then in Rome in April 2022. In spring 2023 the exhibition will travel to The Reference in Seoul. At each new location one local artist is invited to make one new photographic work according to the manifesto thus increasing the number of works in the show.

ARTIST TALK
The Finnish Institute in Japan will host an artist talk at the Institute’s meeting room on 2nd of August, 18:00-20:00. Participating artists Maija Tammi and Harri Pälviranta will discuss about their artistic practice, photography, and the concepts behind the exhibition.

Time: 2 September 2022, 18:00-20:00
Venue: The Finnish Institute in Japan
3-5-39 Minami-Azabu
Minato-ku Tokyo 106-8561

Tickets available until 1 September, 23:55

Group Exhibition “One Picture Manifesto” 3.9.2022 – 15.10.2022

KANA KAWANISHI PHOTOGRAPHY
2-7-5-5F, Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo 106-0031 / Tel: +81 3 5843 9128

Wed-Fri 13:00-20:00, Sat 12:00-19:00 (closed Sun, Mon, Tue, and National Holidays)

*temporarily closed during October 5 (Wed) – 8 (Sat)

Artists: Marja Pirilä, Harri Pälviranta, Maija Annikki Savolainen, Maija Tammi, Alessandro Dandini de Sylva, Hideo Anze

Photo: Maija Tammi: Ouroboros, 2019.

Artist Talk: Jenni Tuominen

We are happy to invite you to an online artist talk by Jenni Tuominen on August 23. at 17:00-18:30. She will talk about her artistry and present her solo exhibition “Sarugakucho, Shibuya, Finnish Forest.” currently displayed at Nokogiri gallery. Jenni has designed for Marimekko, one of Europe’s leading apparel companies, and works with various mediums, mainly in ceramics and painting, illustration, and video.

Please register to the event via Peatix.

Date and Time: 23rd August 2022, 17:00-18:30 (JST)
Venue: ZOOM
Registration available until 22nd August, 23:55.

 

Photo: Studio Jenni&Jukka

Jenni Tuominen
Artist, designer

Jenni Tuominen studied fine art in the Turku Academy of Arts and graphic design in the University of Art and Design Helsinki. Jenni received honored Finnish State Prize for illustration in 2017.  She loves to work on fields of illustration, art and design. Recently she has been working with ceramics, painting and pattern design. She lives and works in Porvoo, Finland.

 

EXHIBITION
Jenni Tuominen: “Sarugakucho, Shibuya, Finnish Forest”
Fri, July 22, 2022 – Sun, August 28, 2022
Opening Hours: 12 pm-7 pm
Closed: Mondays and Tuesdays
Gallery NOKOGIRI
2F, 5-17 Sarugakucho, Shibuya, Tokyo 150-0033

 

Header Photo: Finnish Institute in Japan

Tokyo Art & Science Research Residency 2022: Aaro Murphy

Artist introduction

Portrait photo of Aaro Murphy

Aaro Murphy, is an installation artist working with sound, scent, animation and glass. His work takes form as time based installations and kinetic sculptures, exploring boundaries between the organic and synthetic. A recurring theme in his practice is the ability for machines and complex mechanisms to adopt spatial agency and performative potential – shifting between robotic beings and instruments. Aaro is currently a research fellow at the Studio for Immediate Spaces, Sandberg Institute in Amsterdam, researching architectural olfaction and digital scenting systems.

For the past 3 years Aaro has been developing a series of audiolfactory instruments that project sound and smell. A series of custom glass blown flutes with synthetic aromas inside programmed to play autonomously over time. The Tokyo Art & Science Research Residency, is a unique opportunity for Aaro to merge scientific research together with the sculptural installations he makes.

 

Residency Overview

Aaro Murphy will dedicate his residency to the research of urban scents found in Japan. Setting up a research studio at the Bio-Club Tokyo, Aaro will collect scents from Tokyo during smell walks and site visits. Experimenting with various extraction methods from distillations, macerates to tinctures, the aim is to create a library of materials and smells synonymous with the city. Aaro will simultaneously research Headspace technology and machine olfaction. What interests Aaro in this scent capture technology is its potential for reconstructing spaces virtually through smell.

“I am very excited to be selected for this year’s residency, it is a unique opportunity to dig deeper into my olfactory research and explore the city of Tokyo through smell.”

 

Photos: Aaro Murphy 

Frozen Land

The exhibition Frozen Land showcases the beauty of cold northern nature with snowy landscapes and frosted trees. The photographs on display share the theme of Nordic winter landscapes, and embody the moment at which they were taken and the atmosphere in nature. 

The photographs in this exhibition were taken in the course of several winters in various parts of Finland, but mainly in the Koillismaa region and the Finnish lake district. When taking the photographs, the temperature was often almost minus 30 degrees Celsius – or even colder. That not only put the photographer but also the camera to a test. Photographing nature requires being at the right place at the right time. For example, in order to be formed, steam fog requires a sufficiently large difference between the air and water temperature. If you’re lucky, there are a few such days in a winter. Then again, a severe winter storm may shake the crown snow loads off the trees.

Our winters are changing. Climate change will be reflected in the Nordic nature in a smaller amount of snow and ice. Will we be able to keep these fabulous, magical winters?

Frozen Land

17.–29.5.2022
Hours: 11:00–18:00 (until 15:00 on the last day of the exhibition)
ars gallery, 5-13-1 Jingumae Shibuya-ku Tokyo 150-0001
Gallery closed on Mondays
Free entrance

Maarit Kristiina Vepsäläinen is a 46-year-old photographer born in Savo, Finland, with a further and specialist qualification in photography. As a photographer, she is characterised by her desire to capture moments in nature that can never again be experienced in the exact same way. She wants her photographs to feature either interesting light – or the intentional absence of it. She is also interested in the element of depth. Depth allows the photographs to become something more than just surfaces, something that immerses the viewer in the depicted atmosphere.

“I started my career as a photographer with travel photography 20 years ago, but I’ve been carrying around a camera ever since I was a child. In 2011, I got my first digital Canon SLR camera and began to actively develop my photographic self-expression by attending various photography courses across Finland and, of course, by taking more photos!

I like taking pictures in my home region of Savo as well as in the Koillismaa region, Kuusamo and various parts of the North. Nordic nature is unique, partly even pristine, and beautiful in all seasons. In good weather and lighting conditions, the best place to take photos is often the local nature. In such favourable conditions, I usually take photos in the Rautalampi and Konnevesi regions, in the Finnish lake district.

Nature is a great source of resources and wellbeing. When I’m in nature, I find myself seeking places that exude peace and serenity, places where I can really be present in the moment. I hope that my photographs help the viewer forget the everyday hustle and bustle for a moment and take in the natural atmosphere and calm down in its embrace.”

Photos: Maarit Kristiina Vepsäläinen

 

Elastic Alliances -exhibition

The past few years have taken our necessity to adapt to a whole new level. What is considered normal has been stretched as much in the everyday as in artists’ creative processes. Despite economic and social distress, artists have kept on with their work, and collaboration between creatives has kept on happening.

The exhibition presents fragments of eight individual art projects that have been created collaboratively in exceptional circumstances during 2021. Each project has its individual processes and collaborative models, where the goal has been to come together, work together, and create something together. Through the exhibition, the viewer sees glimpses of long-lasting processes.

The artists and artist collectives in the exhibition are Milena Oksanen & Diego Machado, Anni Puolakka & Ellie Hunter, Pehmee kollektiivi, Minna Pöllänen & Bang Geul Han, Post Theatre Collective, Johanna Rotko/BIOART LAB, Jaana Pirskanen & Half A Map ja The Veerkracht Collective curated by Jani Kaila.

The projects tell us stories of cycles of life, listening to the everyday, coming up with new ways of working together, and of resilience in a challenging situation. Above all, the projects show us how artists have adapted to the current situation by carrying on with what is important to them, building up on existing alliances, supporting each other, and finding new resources in a situation that has seemed hopeless.

Elastic Alliances exhibition
8 April – 22 May 2022
The gallery is open daily from 10 to 20, free entrance.
Gallery Hanaholmen, Espoo, Finland

In conjunction with the exhibition, a seminar focusing on new forms of artistic collaboration will be arranged at Hanasaari Auditorium. Join us for the half-day seminar on Thursday the 28th of April at 1-6pm.

 

The projects in the exhibition have been created as part of Together Alone 2.0, a project organized collaboratively by The Finnish Academic and Cultural Institutes. In the spring of 2020, the Institute network announced an open call for new art projects under the title of Together Alone. The open call sought artistic proposals related to the state of emergency, radical change and resilience. Together Alone 2.0 was launched in 2021 as a continuation of the project. Read more about the project and the artists: https://www.togetheralonefi.com

There are 17 Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes around the world. They advance international mobility, visibility and collaboration of Finnish professionals in the arts, culture and research. The institutes co-operate through a Helsinki-based association, the Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes (SKTI). Find out more: https://instituutit.fi/en/

The exhibition Elastic Alliances is arranged with the support of the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland (Svenska kulturfonden) and the Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes.

AI To Stretch the Borders of Arts – seminar

What is art produced with AI, and can art produced with AI even be considered art? What are authorship and ethics? What needs to be taken into account? These questions were discussed at the AI To Stretch the Borders of Arts – hybrid seminar organized by the Finnish institute in Japan. Presentations were given by both Finnish and Japanese researchers. The seminar was supported by Business Finland. 

AI To Stretch the Borders of Arts – hybrid seminar
Date and time: March 16th, 2022 at 15:00-19:00PM + networking reception
Place: Academy Hills, Roppongi and online (ZOOM)

【Programme】

15:00 Opening words Anna-Maria Wiljanen, Ph.D, Director, Finnish Institute in Japan
15:10 Greetings Kimmo Ojuva, Country Director, Business Finland
15:20 Introduction Kristiina Jokinen, Senior Researcher, AI Reseach Center, The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST)
15:30 Gentiane Venture, Professor, University of Tokyo – ”Bringing robots closer
16:00 Riina Lundman, Postdoctoral researcher, University of Turku – ”AI, arts and co-creativity: The Experiences of the Finnish Artists
16:40 Dr. Katie Seaborn, Associate Professor, Tokyo Institute of Technology – “Implications for Art”
17:10 Coffee Break
17:20 Tomi Slotte Dufva, University Lecturer, Aalto ARTS University – ”Entanglements in AI Art
18:00 Panel Discussion
Led by Kristiina Jokinen (AIST)
Participants: Gentiane Venture (The University of Tokyo), Katie Seaborn, (Tokyo Institute of Technology), Riina Lundman (University of Turku), Tomi Slotte Dufva (Aalto ARTS University)
18:45 Closing remarks Anna-Maria Wiljanen, Ph.D, Director, Finnish Institute in Japan
18:50 Networking reception (only on-site participants)
20:00 Doors close

Photo: Guillaume Meurice from Pexels

Quite Japanese – Yet So Finnish: Kaija + Heikki Siren – curator’s talk

The curator of the exhibition Frans Autio will give a curator’s talk and tell more about the exhibition on Thursday March 17th at 6pm (in English, interpreted in Japanese) via Zoom.

Registration open until March 16th.


Frans Autio. Photo: Rolf Autio.


Frans Autio is doctoral researcher in Doctoral programme in history and cultural heritage, at University of Helsinki, Finland. In his doctoral thesis, he is examining Japanese industrial car design, focusing on the transition of its future expectations during 1960s and 1970s.

Autio is specialized on modern Japanese design and architecture, modern architecture theories, and history of the future. He was assistant editor of Kaikki ja ei mitään: arkkitehdit Kaija + Heikki Siren [Everything and nothing: Architects Kaija + Heikki Siren] (2020), in which his article, ‘Ajattoman puuarkkitehtuuriperinteen äärellä Suomessa ja Japanissa’ [Approaching the heritage of timeless wooden architecture in Finland and Japan] was published.

In summer 2018 Autio spent three months in Japan, working on his master’s thesis in collaboration with Chiba University.

Quite Japanese – Yet So Finnish: Kaija + Heikki Siren
8.–20.3.2022

Hours: 11:00–18:00 (until 15:00 on the last day of the exhibition)
ars gallery, 5-13-1 Jingumae Shibuya-ku Tokyo 150-0001
Gallery closed on Mondays
Free entrance

Exhibition is produced by the Museum of Finnish Architecture and curated by Frans Autio.

Header photo: Museum of Finnish Architecture

International Women’s Day 2022 Celebration

The Finnish Institute in Japan wishes every girl and woman a hopeful International Women’s Day and encourages everybody to #BreakTheBias.

Imagine a diverse, equitable and inclusive world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination.

Together we can force women’s equality…because we can #BreakTheBias.

Come and meet us Tuesday March 8th at 9AM-10AM in front of the National Azabu Supermarket in Hiroo! We will give a small, inspirational gift to 200 first passers-by. Hope to see you! 

Tuesday 8 March 2022, 9:00-10:00 (JST). 

National Azabu Supermarket, 〒106-0047, 4-5-2 Minami Azabu,Minato-Ku,Tokyo.

Quite Japanese – Yet So Finnish: Kaija + Heikki Siren

The exhibition examines Kaija and Heikki Siren’s long-term relationship with Japan, and features their wooden architecture in both Finland and Japan. 

The Finnish architect couple Kaija Siren (née Tuominen, 1920–2001) and Heikki Siren (1918–2013) designed and realised several projects for Japan, a country much admired by numerous Finnish architects. The extensive collection of articles on the Sirens’ architecture published in August 1965 in Kindai Kenchiku, a Japanese magazine specialised in modern architecture, provided the initial impetus in furthering their relationship with Japan, leading to a warm understanding between the Sirens and the Japanese public. For the Sirens, Japanese architecture meant the same as the Sirens’ architecture meant for the Japanese: simple and beautiful architecture that takes its environment into account, and skillfully combines interior and exterior spaces. Over the next six decades, the Sirens’ work continued to be featured in Japanese architecture magazines.

The Sirens first design in Japan, the Karuizawa Golf Club’s restaurant, was completed in 1974 and second, the Onuma Golf Club, in 1976. Today, several holiday villages consisting of standard cottages designed by the Sirens can be found in Japan. The sites designed by the architect couple in Japan emphasize wooden log materials and a refined relationship between a building and its surrounding environment.

Curator’s talk
The curator of the exhibition Frans Autio will give a curator’s talk and tell more about the exhibition on Thursday March 17th at 6pm (in English, interpreted in Japanese) via Zoom.
Requires registration, more information here.

Quite Japanese – Yet So Finnish: Kaija + Heikki Siren
8.–20.3.2022

Hours: 11:00–18:00 (until 15:00 on the last day of the exhibition)
ars gallery, 5-13-1 Jingumae Shibuya-ku Tokyo 150-0001
Gallery closed on Mondays
Free entrance

Exhibition is produced by the Museum of Finnish Architecture and curated by Frans Autio.

Photo: Museum of Finnish Architecture

Åland 100 Knitting Competition Winners

The winners of the hugely popular Åland 100 Knitting competition have now been selected, thank you so much to everyone who participated! All of the entries were excellent, so the decision was really hard to make, but in the end Ms. Megumi Shibata was chosen as the winner with her lovely Åland-coloured cardigan! Prizes will also go to Ms. Yuko Hachiya, Ms. Mieko Toba and Ms. Yuka Suzuki, as well as an honorary prize to Ms. Kazumi Sunada with her lovely sweater for dogs. Congratulations!

The jury consisted of Ms. Tiina Björklund, Project Leader of Åland 100, Ms. Linda Permanto, Head of Marketing and Communication at Novita Oy, as well as Dr. Anna-Maria Wiljanen, Director of the Finnish Institute in Japan.


Photo: Megumi Shibata


Photo: Yuko Hachiya


Photo: Mieko Toba


Photo: Yuka Suzuki


Photo: Kazumi Sunada