Kajaani Art Museum

The joint exhibition of ceramic artist Ulla Harju and photographer Teijo Määttänen is centred around a shared concern about climate change.

“Our environment is in a state of ever-accelerating change, the biodiversity in nature is declining, the climate is warming. Nevertheless fields, bodies of water, bush-filled clearings, the sturdy clouds in the sky still evoke memories of childhood landscapes and the emotions attached to them – for now.” Teijo Määttänen

“And the trees pray to all the gods: give us back our cell tissue, free us of this humanity.” Ulla Harju

Photo: Teijo Määttänen, 2019

Kalle Mustonen, Jussi Valtakari and Antti Ylönen

Three wood-working sculptors come together in a shared exhibition which plays with scale and moves in the realm of myths and legends. Jussi Valtakari and Antti Ylönen construct works where Valtakari’s miniature human figurines combine with Ylönen’s robust shapes that emphasize the materiality of wood. Valtakari’s works criticize society and current issues with gentle humour, creating stories that are played out on a stage set by Ylönen’s pieces.

Kalle Mustonen also moves on a scale between minimal and monumental in his art. At the Kajaani Art Museum exhibition he presents an 8.5 meter wooden gnome. The sculpture is based on Dutch folklore and lends its shape from garden gnomes.

Antti Ylönen, Jussi Valtakari: They have landed 2, 2020, wood

Nicole Ahland, Verena Freyschmidt, Lasse-Marc Riek

Three German artists working with different techniques create pieces in dialogue with space.

Space and light are the pivotal elements in photographer Nicole Ahland’s works. She has created a minimalist imagery of her own by researching the interplay of space and light.

Verena Freyschmidt uses pen, paper and scissors to create large organic installations that transform according to the spaces they are in.

Sound artist Lasse-Marc Riek has travelled around the world recording both natural and human-created sounds with his microphones and sound systems. For Kajaani Art museum Riek has created a brand new respiration choir inspired by COVID-times consisting of the sound of people from different countries breathing.

Verena Freyschmidt, Rhizome Installations, 2015-2021, ink / pencil on paper and on wall, detail. Photo: anjinshan.net

Jaakko Kilpiäinen – Photo exhibition on Finnish functionalist architecture

 Jaakko Kilpiäinen has photographed Finnish functionalist architecture since the beginning of the 2000s. His goal is to raise awareness about viewing and appreciating our architectural heritage at large and not just the most famous attractions. Simultaneously his works take a stand against the prevalent short-sightedness regarding our architectural heritage. The exhibition also includes a segment about architect Eino Pitkänen who spent the prime years of his career in Kajaani.

Photos: Jaakko Kilpiäinen. Left: Kauppakatu 17, Kajaani (architect Eino Pitkänen 1950). Right: Lasipalatsi, Mannerheimintie 22-24, Helsinki (architects Viljo Revell, Heimo Riihimäki, Niilo Kokko 1936)

Tuija Teiska

I feel like (love) is an exhibition about emotions the most important of which is love. Emotions that we collect and compartmentalise in our memories. Feelings that make us humans, beings and meaningful to ourselves and others.

The theme of the exhibition is not romantic love but how as humans we have the need to feel acknowledged and meaningful to other people and our environment. Loved in loneliness, in longing, in remembering and being remembered. The works also examine what self-love is – respecting yourself and feeling connected.

Photo: Tuija Teiska, You said that flower paintings are boring, 2021, video