The word passio originally comes from the Latin word patior, which means to become overpowered by something. The Swedish word for ‘passion’ is lidelse, and the German word Leidenschaft. They both are connected with the idea of suffering. Instead, the Finnish word for passion (intohimo) signifies solely desire and lust. The Finnish word for passion was invented during the 19th century. According to Petri Lauerma, the early meaning may have included the idea of suffering, which has later disappeared.
The current exhibition offers four main themes which are connected with the concept of passio in Ancient Greece and Rome: desire, pleasure, fear and suffering. The human collective unconscious is populated by the archetypal themes. These originate in the mythical stories by which the people have tried to explain the inexplicability and mystery of life. The birth of the world, the spiritual growth of the human being and his/her relationship to God, love, suffering and death constitute the core of many myths and folk stories. The ancient histories of creation and heroic tales have also increased the psychological understanding of the working of the human mind. For example, the researchers of archaeology, religion and psychology have intensively explored these myths.
Today we can recognize passion everywhere: we have passionate tea drinkers, and the consults talk about the passion for our own work, actions and strengths. Moreover, in workplaces people continuously mix the ideas of inspiration and passion. However, passion means that you have to repeat, practice, to develop, and to be very patient. Valuable art always contains the idea of passion. The art historian Anna Kortelainen claims that still today male passion is considered as the source of art, science and immortality whereas feminine desires and passions are regarded as a bit comical or less important.
The film director Andrei Tarkovski has said that the aim of art is to prepare a human being for death. Therefore art includes elements of sorrow and consolation. It should not leave out the questions of suffering and death. The task of human being is to understand that we are also tragic creatures who are not created only for happiness. For Russian writer Fjodor Dostoyevski, suffering is the sign of humanity: “Suffering is the cause of consciousness, I am a suffering creature. I will not attack you, but I will speak or write about my own fears and pain.” The exhibition poster presents Kalle Turakka Purhonen’s Crown (2014), which is composed of pencils. It became very topical after the terrorist attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on the 7th of January 2015. The shootings of the cartoonists resulted in the discussions of the freedom of expression. Various kinds of images and illustrations of pencils as the symbols of freedom of speech began to be spread out via internet and cartoons all over the world.
This exhibition is based on The Aine Pictorial Art Foundation’s and The Aine Art Museum’s collections. Many of the art works are recent purchases. The artists of this exhibition are, for example, Helge Dahlman, Hanna Kanto, Jani Leinonen, Anitra Lucander, Sauli Miettunen, Unto Pusa, Liisa Rautiainen, Rafael Wardi, Per Stenius, Maria Wiik and Teuvo Tuomivaara.
Hanna Kanto (born 1981, Tornio) and Essi Korva (born 1985, Pello) are the Kalottjazz and Blues festival artists of The Aine Art Museum in the year 2015.
Hanna Kanto lives and works in Haparanda, Sweden. She graduated as a Master of Arts from the University of Lapland in the year 2007. She has actively attended many private and collective exhibitions both in Finland and abroad. Apart from the work as an artist, she also teaches in the Swedish-Finnish Folk Art School.
Essi Korva graduated from the Institute of Design and Fine Arts (Lahti University of Applied Sciences) in 2010. After her graduation, she returned to her home district Pello, where she now lives and works. She has attended several international art exhibitions and environmental art happenings.
One theme of this exhibition is research. Art can be viewed as a form of research, which is practiced side by side with the traditional methods and branches of science. Art means a search for the new and the unknown. It also represents the interpretation of the contemporary reality.
The starting point of Essi Korva’s sculptures is a deep knowledge of the material. She combines, for example, chemicals, glue and plaster with organic materials in her sculptures. In her new works Korva has used bird decays. She has separated the chords and dried the meat around the wings and the skull. The art work After Death (2015, wings, ceramics, feathers) depicts an ornithological study, where ceramics is combined with the organic material.
Hanna Kanto’s series of paintings Bird Cabinet (2014 and 2015, acryl in canvas) presents bird collections in vitrines. They have a double meaning: they depict both the birds in exhibition and represent itself works in exhibition. Kanto’s paintings often describe the research of the North. Observer (Observatööri, 2015, acryl and oil on canvas) is observing the motions of the heavenly bodies. Specifically, Kanto is interested in various kinds of contrasts and materials. The same painting can include, for example, misty thin, thick and layered surfaces.
Lapland’s nature is the starting point of both painters. Hanna Kanto’s paintings often portray the everyday life and livelihoods in the Nordic districts that are in conflict with the demands of modern life. This perspective is also personal. When she lived up North, sharing life with the local people became an important part of her work. Winter is meaningful and visually fascinating season for the artist in many levels: Kanto also likes to paint the winter during the summer. For Essi Korva, the Nordic dimension represents space and peace. Her sculptures can be called as “shaken” portraits of feelings: fear, loneliness, emptiness and love.
The 18th Festival jazzartist tradition has reached the age of majority. This tradition ends up with this strong Nordic women’s exhibition and shows the way to new directions.