Event

Piha, Pyhä, Metsä, Maa – KUBU environmental art exhibition and programme

The Finnish word metsä, forest, has long meant ‘border, edge or verge’ - the area outside the boundaries of home, an area that does not belong to man. The word pyhä, sacred, on the other hand, has been used to define a special place in nature, a time, or a being. Both sacred and forest have been associated with respect and an acceptance, that there are areas, which can never be fully experienced, controlled or understood by humans. The significance of the words defined boundaries, which needed permission to be crossed, urging caution and thus preventing people from acting unreasonably. Nature’s gifts could not just be taken, they had to be asked for.


In the nature-worshipping Finnish folk tradition, certain trees have been considered sacred. According to mythical thinking, the world is ruled by invisible forces, and it has been necessary to secure their favour for all activities. In this interaction, it has been necessary to give to receive something. The primary function of both art and ritual has been to create a link between the invisible sacred and the material world.


Through artworks placed in trees and forests, KUBU’s summer exhibition explores the boundaries that separate the dead from the living, the present from the past, the invisible forces that govern life from the visible reality of everyday life, and culture from nature. At the border, it is possible to find a context, to remember and to relate. Each work in the exhibition is a meeting place that maintains a memory of trees and forests as something more than what can be immediately sensed. This imperceptible may be animistic in its nature or established by scientific research.


Curator: Ritva Kovalainen, participating artists: Eija Isojärvi, Anni Rapinoja and Anna Vasko + participants for community art. The exhibition is part of Kimitoön's 700th anniversary.

Where in Finland ?
Coast
Seasons
Suitable experience in February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
Contact

KUBU

Smedskullavägen 3, 25860 Björkboda
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