"I am liberal socialist - zenarchist - invidualist - collectivist - skeptical - humanist - kapitalist - romantic - cooperative - nihilist”

Feb 4 – Apr 3 Holvi

“I am a socialist-anarchist-individual-collectivist-individualist-communist-aristocratic-democratic” was the answer the influential American research journalist Henry Demarest Lloyd (1847–1903), gave when asked of his political views. Lloyd was uninterested in categorizing himself and instead brought forward the complex relationship between the private and the communal. Lloyd’s answer is the starting point for the exhibition curated by Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen.

This exhibition’s artists are Frank Maria Brümmel,Krister Gråhn, Tuomas Aleksander Laitinen, Sebastian Lindberg, Pilvari Pirtola, Johanna Raekallio, Satu Rautiainen, Pasi Rauhala, Jyrki Riekki and Hanna Saarikoski. Alongside their personal practice, all of these artists have engaged in collective art-making.

The tension between individualism and collectivism is not only represented in political terms, but also from an artistic perspective. An artist might start out from an extremely in-dividualistic viewpoint, as a strategy to show his or hers unique experience of existence. On the other hand, the artists might choose to make collective works to see themselves as active influences in the communal process. The exhibition’s artists along with the curators are interested in the challenges of creating a group exhibition as a collective process, while leaving space for individualism.

The collective process culminates in the work “Speech Karaoke” which was designed and created by both the artists and curators together. With the aid of the Speech Karaoke, the exhibition visitor can practice at giving out different speeches. Along with historical speeches, there will also be other speeches available from different fields and ideologies written specifically for the Speech Karaoke dealing with the themes of the exhibition.