Korjaamo’s two-day Festival programme (25–26 May) extends the experience of Henrik Håkansson’s film THE BEETLE by opening up a discussion on the interface between art and ecology.
Please, find on your right the headlines of each programme slot and click for description. Descriptions can be found also by scrolling below.
Please, read more about the speakers here >
Free admission to all events.
IHME 10 Years: Where are we now?
Friday, 25 May, 10:00–13:00, Korjaamo, Corner Hall (in Finnish)
This year, the ten-year-old Festival will consider the state of the world from the perspective of long geological epochs. At the same time, it will ask how the making of art, social discourse, Helsinki and Finland have changed during IHME’s decade-long trajectory? And where are we now? In his works the winner of the 2018 Finlandia Prize, the writer Juha Hurme, has dealt with our cultural capital and our relationship with the world, which are always subject to numerous influences. Will he opt for the insect’s eye view or look at the world from a wide angle? The scene will be set for his talk by David Bowie’s music video Where are we now, which has been visualized by the artist Tony Ousler.
Discussion of the IHME Project: The Case of a False Click Beetle
Friday, 25 May, 10:00–13:00, Korjaamo, Corner Hall (in English)
Henrik Håkansson’s IHME Project THE BEETLE is a contribution to the discussion humankind’s role in the loss of biodiversity. News of a wave of insect extinctions and of a drop in the number of pollinators has aroused concern about the future of our environment. The discussion will consider the view of this topic taken in THE BEETLE, the film’s relationship with the artist’s earlier production, the representation of animals in art, and how insects have inspired human actions. In the discussion, along with the artist Henrik Håkansson, will be Professor Jussi Parikka of the University of Southampton, Filipa Ramos, a Lecturer in Experimental Film at Kingston University, London, and Professor Jörg Heiser of Berlin University of the Arts. The public is also welcome to comment and ask questions. The discussion will be in English.
More about the speakers here >
Timetable of screenings of THE BEETLE at Korjaamo >
Let’s get scientific: Professor of Entomology Jyrki Muona and the case study of a beetle
Saturday, 26 May, 12:00–13:30, Korjaamo, Corner Hall (in Finnish)
The focus of this year’s festival is Hylochares cruentatus, a beetle that resides in Vantaa and is less than one centimetre long. It is also the subject of the IHME Project. The threatened species could be called Vantaa’s version of the Saimaa ringed seal as, like the seal, it is not known to exist anywhere else in Finland or the world.
Professor Jyrki Muona, a former senior curator of the Finnish Museum of Natural History, has made beetles his life’s work. It is thanks to him that Hylochares cruentatus plays the leading role in the film THE BEETLE. In the festival, Muona speaks about the tiny insect’s intriguing life stages, vulnerable habitat, and human actions that have exposed the species to the threat of extinction.
You can also take a look in the Korjaamo exhibition hall’s display cabinet at male and female members of the species from the professor’s collection.
Let’s get scientific: insects and diversity
Saturday, 26 May, 14:00–15:00, Korjaamo, Corner Hall (in Finnish)
Academy researcher Marjo Saastamoinen explains why the diversity of insects is important and why it has diminished as a result of human activities. Saastamoinen is in charge of a University of Helsinki project that studies Glanville fritillary butterfly species with regards to its genes and interactions between populations, for instance. The research project has its background in the Metapopulation Research Center (MRC), which was located in the of University of Helsinki’s Viikki Campus between 1991 and 2017. A metapopulation is a group of local populations of the same species, and studying them increases understanding of how species live in a fragmented environment. The project was directed and developed by Ilkka Hanski (1953-2016), who was one of the world’s leading ecologists and evolutionary biologists and a valued expert both within and beyond the scientific community. The group focussed on studying the Glanville fritillary butterfly because it lives in clearly-defined habitats such as fields and meadows and is easily found.
IHME Marathon: 150 minutes of public art
Saturday, 26 May, 16:30–18:00, Korjaamo, Corner Hall (in English)
In 2009–2018, IHME has produced a total of ten works for public space, one a year. How do you curate works for spaces that are marked by life’s multiplicity of layers, movement and chance? How do you produce works that are encapsulated in a brief encounter, or that have their starting points in a community, its needs and its hopes? Artists and curators have been invited to the tenth IHME Marathon to open up the processes of curating public space using example works. In the spirit of THE BEETLE the projects’ common factors will be non-human actors and objects.
Taking part in the Marathon will be the art collectives working around the Kone Foundation’s Lauttasaari Manor: Neigbourhizome (Naapurihmasto), i.e. Eero Yli-Vakkuri, Leena Kela and Heini Aho) and Nabb+Teeri, plus the following curators from bodies that produce art for public spaces: the ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival’s Senior Producer Johanna Tuukkanen; PUBLICS’ Artistic Director Paul O’Neill; Helsinki Art Museum HAM’s Head of Public Art Taru Tappola; and the Director of the Finnish Society of Bioart Erich Berger. The curator of the IHME Project, the Festival’s Executive Director Paula Toppila, will also be contributing to the discussion with her Marathon talk. The event will be hosted and the discussion led by Head of Programme at Frame Contemporary Art Finland Taru Elfving. The language of the IHME Marathon will be English.