Continuum

Continuum is an exhibition featuring American artists, supported by Finlandia Foundation National (FFN) and organised in collaboration with the University of Lapland.

Continuum explores connections spanning memory, migration, landscape, geography, history and identity. The works in the exhibition occupy unique points along this continuum, bringing together ancestral heritage and present-day experiences, culture, and material and conceptual practices.

The exhibition features artists Phyllis Fredendall, Heather Hietala, Tia Keobounpheng, Joyce Koskenmaki, Arno Rafael Minkkinen and Carrie Vander Veen. Some are Finnish Americans, while others are friends of Finland whose lives and work are deeply intertwined with Finnish culture and community. Each has drawn inspiration from this connection in their own unique way.

“Continuum gives us an opportunity to highlight something that has been at the heart of our work for decades: the enduring connection between Finland and the Finnish American community,” says Tommy Flanagan, Executive Director of FFN.

“Each of the artists in this exhibition is connected to our organisation and our mission in a unique way. They offer their own perspective on the continuum of art, culture, heritage, history and identity that stretches across generations and across the Atlantic,” Flanagan continues.

For some of the artists, such as Phyllis Fredendall, who is from northern Michigan and had a long career as a professor of textile art, the exhibition deepens longstanding personal and professional connections with Finland.

“Each of these bodies of work has grown out of my relationship with Finland, which spans more than 30 years. Memories, places and family history all emerge through wool,” Fredendall explains.

Fredendall was the first curator of Finlandia Gallery, located at the FFN-owned Finnish American Heritage Center in Hancock, Michigan. She was succeeded by Carrie Vander Veen, who served as curator for more than 20 years. Joyce Koskenmaki, Tia Keobounpheng and Heather Hietala have all exhibited their work at Finlandia Gallery, as have FFN Artists of the Year Eric Aho and Vaino Kola, whose works are also featured in Continuum.

“Bringing these artists and their works to Finland for the first time is extremely meaningful,” Flanagan says.

“It not only gives us an opportunity to celebrate the things that are important to us, but also to strengthen the connections that keep this continuum alive. Most importantly, we have the opportunity to come together as a community around the stories and experiences that connect us,” Flanagan concludes.

The Faculty of Art and Design at the University of Lapland and Finlandia Foundation hope to strengthen their collaboration through future exhibition exchanges and potential research projects.

Hancock, Michigan, home to Finlandia Gallery, still has streets with Finnish names. At Kahvila Nisu in Hancock, the dialect of the Tornio region can still be heard, spoken by the current café owner, whose parents emigrated from Tornio to the United States. Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is also known as husky country and as a centre for snow and ice sculpting.

There are surprisingly many everyday connections between the region and Lapland and northern Finland. Cultural exchange is therefore one of the best ways to maintain and develop these relationships in uncertain times in world politics.

For more information:

Jaana Erkkilä-Hill
Professor of Fine Art, Faculty of Art and Design
+358 40 592 9453
jaana.erkkila-hill(a)ulapland.fi

Leila Lipiäinen
University Teacher, Exhibition Committee, Faculty of Art and Design
+358 40 484 4417
leila.lipiainen(a)ulapland.fi