The exhibition Fragile celebrates the Onoma cooperative’s 30th anniversary. This time, the aim has been to focus on localness, and only artists from Fiskars have been invited by the curator Marja Sakari, including some Fiskars (AiR) artists-in-residence over the years. The theme of the 2024 exhibition leads us to think about the fragility of world politics and nature, as well as the fragility of life in general.
The village community made up of artists and artisans based in Fiskars can be seen as a fragile structure, loosely formed around creative activity. At the same time, the community has proven to be amazingly resilient and strong. The history, nature, tradition of artisanship, affordable workspaces, and peaceful and inspiring environment of Fiskars are things that have attracted, and continue to attract, a variety of artists. People have come and gone, but art and creativity are still present here.
The exhibition Fragile is intended to honour the spirit of resilience that the Fiskars community of artists has demonstrated for more than 30 years. The exhibition will also include works by five deceased artists who lived in Fiskars: Martti Aiha, Markku Kosonen, Jukka Mäkelä, Stig Nordman, and Howard Smith. The exhibition expands to become a tribute to the work of Fiskars artists, the different artistic practices, and the preservation of tradition.
In addition to its umbrella theme, the exhibition Fragile includes several subthemes around which the works intertwine and overlap: the works deal with fragile nature, the passage of time, space, and place. Nature, time and space can be understood in different ways and in different combinations: the space of nature, the nature of time, and the time of nature. Time holds within it a fragile life from birth to death. Fragility is approached both as the fragility of subject matter, at a more abstract level, and as the fragility of matter. To what extent can matter be shaped to create something delicate and fragile while still retaining its strength? Many of the works explore the theme of fragile through the movements of the mind. Play and the mind form fragile games of the mind, playful combinations. The exhibition discusses spaces of the mind, the time of places and space, and the space of our time.
Many of the works in the exhibition explore disappearing traditions, including the handicraft tradition and the folk tradition. The community in Fiskars has learned to cherish and draw on this disappearing, fragile world.
The exhibition features works by a total of 69 artists. The works exhibited represent a comprehensive cross-section of local artistry, featuring various materials and art forms. The local artist residency, Onoma’s international Fiskars AiR, which has been running for 18 years, will also be featured, with works exhibited by five artists.
Artists
Erna Aaltonen / Martti Aiha / Eeva-Kaisa Ailus / Päivi Alajuntti / Upi Anttila / Heikki Aska / Daniela Bergschneider / Bella Deary & Nicholas Tossman / Kirsti Doukas / Mafune Gonjo / Hannele Grönlund / Eero Haikala / Laura Hallantie / Lulu Halme / Antrei Hartikainen / Pekka Ijäs / Mari Isopahkala / Maikki Kaikuru / Tiina Karimaa & Lumi Fellman / Erika Kelter / Minja Kolehmainen / Sirpa Kolu & Pirkko Kolu / Markku Kosonen / Maaretta Krohn / Barbro Kulvik & Antti Siltavuori / Mikko Laakkonen / Peetu Liesinen / Elina Makkonen / Johanna Matruka / Rudi Merz & Laura Merz / Camilla Moberg / Risto Musta / Timo Mustajärvi / Anu Mykrä & Reetta Ranta / Jukka Mäkelä / Pia Nieminen / Stig Nordman / Ron Nordström / Piitu Nykopp / Saara Paatero-Burtsov / Katri Pailos / Jaakko Pakkala / Deepa Panchamia & Viivi Varesvuo / Tuulia Penttilä / Milvi Pesari / Mikael Pohjola / Katarina Reuter / Sami Ryhänen / Annatuuli Saine & Saine Ensemble / Rutsuko Sakata / Taru Samola / Lea Sarasjoki / Howard Smith / Riitta Talonpoika / Anna Ulff / Tiina Vaskivaara & Susanna Louneva / Eva Vevere / Karin Widnäs / Kari Virtanen / Arto Vuohelainen / Katja Öhrnberg