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Into the other side of Air

Silver gelatin print / Mixed media, 2017

Into the other side of Air

　The Kalevala is a 19th-century work of epic poetry compiled of Finish oral folklore and mythology compiled by Finnish physician and philogist, Elias Lönnrot visited villages all over the country to collect and compile them. This project is a commission to create works through interpretations of the epic poem Kalevala on the occasion of Finland's 100th anniversary of independence in 2017.

　In this work, I contacted to the residents of the area where the spirit of the Kalevala remains, which Lönnrot actually visited on his trip to collect oral poetry in the 19th century. I interviewed them about their dream experiences and childhood memories.  From the standpoint of a story teller, using their personal photographs of daily lives and childhood, and images collected from the Internet through searches in Finnish as symbols to create stories, I tried to tell a new oral story by superimposing their personal myths and the story of the Kalevala, which is universally rooted in the Finnish culture and spiritual world.

The Universal Nature

SEZON gallery, Tokyo, Japan

2017.08.06

 

[Artists]

Yusuke Asai  |  Hideki Iinuma  |  Yuji Ohta
Tomoko Konoike  |  Shiriagari Kotobuki  |  Ayumi Tanaka

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[Curator]

Kenji Kubota

 

[Organisers] The Kalevala Society and The Finnish Institute in Japan
[Co-organizer] Sezon Art Gallery
[Nominal support] Embassy of Finland
[Support] Kenji Kubota Art Office

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Echoes from the Past

Art and Museum centre Sinkka, Kerava, Finland

2018.01.26

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[Artists]

Yusuke Asai  |  Christine Candolin  |  Tatiana Echeverri Fernandez

Oliver Godow  |  Paavo Halonen  |  Mathilde ter Heiine  |  Hideki linuma

Jussi TwoSeven  |  Tomoko Konoike  |  Shiriagari Kotobuki  |  Yuji Ohta  |  Kustaa Saksi

Ayumi Tanaka  |  Mariatta Tapiola  |  Jorinde Voigt

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[Organisers]

The Kalevala Society, The Finnish Institute in Japan and The Finnish Institute in Germany. 

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[Curators]

Kenji Kubota, Dr. Christine Nippe and the Director of the Kerava Art Museum Aria Elovirta.

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