ART CENTER AHJO, KYTÖ/LIEKKI -SPACE: TIIA-MARI MÄKINEN

SKIN HUNGER / LOVESONG -exhibition complex
TIIA-MARI MÄKINEN
17.4. -5.5.2024, KYTÖ/LIEKKI -SPACE

The SKIN HUNGER / LOVESONG exhibition complex explores touch and love. The centerpiece of the work has been multifaceted questions; What does touch mean? What happens when touch is missing from life? How does the longing for touch feel? Where on the body are there memories of touch? What does touch say about us? What is skin hunger? What are the love songs between our bodies?

The SKIN HUNGER / LOVESONG exhibition ensemble began, and has been worked on, during and after the corona pandemic. People over the age of 60 have been involved in making the multidisciplinary work, with whom answers to the questions listed above have been sought and researched.

The exhibition complex on display in Ahjo contains five video works, which have been realized in cooperation with the people who participated in the project. Interviews of people who participated in the project and written and expressive material from the workshops, which deal with the loneliness and isolation caused by the corona pandemic, and the feelings and experiences arising from these conditions, served as the base material for the exhibition.

Tiia-Mari Mäkinen has conceptualized, directed, choreographed, edited and partly filmed the entire project, the works and the exhibition. Mäkinen's long-time artistic collaborator, photographer Jyri Keronen from Joensuu, has also acted as a photographer for some of the video works. Sound artist and composer Jone Väänänen is responsible for the sound world of the video works. Teatteri Fiasko from Joensuu has also been a partner in the project. The exhibition also features photographs taken by Jyri Keronen from the SKIN HUNGER / LOVESONG workshops.