Exhibition of Finnish video and photographic art will be presented in New York starting June 24th. The Bodies, Borders, Crossings exhibition examines corporeality and control, borders and border crossings conceptualized in the works of 10 contemporary Finnish artists.
Much of contemporary life is globally about movement and migration. Countless bodies, and objects alike, constantly cross various borders. The aim of the exhibition curators Leena-Maija Rossi and Kari Soinio has been to find both cultural interfaces and eye-opening cultural differences in terms of thinking about borders and thinking about the body.
10 artists, Jaakko Heikkilä, Raakel Kuukka, Riikka Kuoppala, Elena Näsänen, Marja Pirilä, Minna Rainio and Mark Roberts, Hannele Rantala, Catarina Ryöppy, and Minna Suoniemi, approach the theme from various perspectives. Some investigate the meaning of rules and individuality in terms of social control, some problematize whiteness as a given, and as an "invisible" raciality in the North and some interrogate the notion of "free" globalized movement of gendered bodies, and scrutinize the forced moving around, even trafficking of human beings.
Bodies, Borders, Crossings is organized by the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York. After the initial show in New York, the exhibition will tour in North America, France, and Finland. The tour is organized in collaboration with Institut Finlandais, Paris, France, and supported by Alfred Kordelin Foundation, the Finnish Cultural Foundation, Kone Foundation, and David and Nancy Speer Professorship in Finnish Studies, University of Minnesota.
The exhibition venue is located on the former military base of Governors Island in the heart of New York Harbor. The exhibition is part of the island's visual arts season 2011.
