The Black Charismatic, staged in Helsinki by the global star in contemporary art Theaster Gates, sparked interest in international art media. Gates’s suite of works continued the series of projects in public space commissioned by the IHME Contemporary Art Festival, with reviews, for instance, in Frieze Magazine – one of the most widely read contemporary art and culture publications.
“Art criticism in Finland frequently concentrates on museum or gallery exhibitions, while public-art projects get less column space,” says IHME Executive Director Paula Toppila. “This year’s IHME Project involved unique events, plus an installation shown for an extended period. Experiencing all of this was a challenge in itself, added to which, such an artwork makes the audience, the space, and its architecture an integral part of the experience. It is much appreciated that so many art media took up the challenge.”
Read Frieze’s review of the IHME Project here >
Review in the Norwegian online art magazine Kunstkritikk >
Article in the Swedish online contemporary art magazine Konsten.net (in Swedish) >
Festival feedback: how did we do?
#IHME2017 may be over but the four weeks of wonder live on. We would like to thank everyone for making this year’s edition of IHME such a special one.
Take a look back at #IHME2017 with our selection of images from the festival by our photographer Veikko Somerpuro >
If you missed the two-day event at the Gloria Cultural Arena or would like to revisit the talks and discussions on YouTube, please subscribe to IHME’s channel here >
The artist and project for the next IHME Festival, the tenth, will be announced this autumn. So make sure you stay up to date on our latest activity on FB, Instagram and Twitter.
A special thank you for your feedback! Feedback and information about our audiences is vital in helping us shape our work for the future. The winners of our survey raffle have now been drawn and notified. Once again, thank you for all of your responses and we look forward to seeing you soon!
Here are some of your comments:
“Thanks to this marvellous place [the Salvation Army Temple], this feels like a real discovery, a bit like a treasure.”
“It was very interesting, funny and I also found it very ironic. I hope they [The Black Monks of Mississippi] do more of these kinds of performances in the future.”
“I enjoyed the melody parts [of the concert] after the chaos, I think we really needed them. But maybe we are just so used to hear melodies. Maybe we need chaos as well.”
“I was somewhat disappointed that the [concert] audience] didn’t chime in during the performance. [- -] Despite their broad use of space, I felt like the performers were still a bit like specimens in a glass jar.”
“Sometimes art pieces are about being ironical and just about making name and so on, and I’m a bit tired of this cynical way…But this [the video installation] was a rooting experience, as art can also be about feeling and living and experiencing.”
“In Finland spirituality is private, it’s not often shared, so this was different in that sense.”
“I started to think how traumas travel from generation to generation and you can’t get rid of them, you just have to learn to live with it and deal with it.”
“Möller <3”
“The Festival is a bit self-enclosed.”
“Staff was helpful.”