Art Projects in Finland Back to the beginning
The Flower of Life
Permanent art park for under three year olds and their
loved ones, which was opened in August 2005
Design
and implementation: Sanna
Karlsson-Sutisna.
Other works in the park from: Johanna Häiväoja and Rosegarden (Jan-Erik Andersson & Erkki
Pitkäranta).
Children are the
blossoms in the tree of life. They bring us joy and teach us in many ways.
Sanna Karlsson-Sutisna wants to make a place in our environment for our little
ones to be able to feel love and where we can play or just be together and let
the imagination and feelings blossom. The park’s pleasant environment
encourages babies and their families to spend time together enjoying these
pieces of art especially made for the very young.
Most of the park’s
works are made from wood. The material invites to touch the surface. The totem
poles, runic stone and real size sculptures of children from all colours and
cultures are carved from Siberian fir. There is also a pyramid guarded by five
animals from different continents. Children have a special relation to animals.
This time the pyramid is made instead of the Pharao´s afterlifetime for the new
life. This pyramid is made to celebrate the joy of life and it’s also a
wonderful place to rest.
The big glass
sculpture invites to play hide and seek. The different colours can be seen as
different ways to see this world. The labyrinth is made out from willows. In
the middle there is an egg that symbolises the birth and the beginning. The egg
is also an hourglass where the yellow sand runs between the sun and the moon.
It reminds that we are babies just for a while but always part of the universe.
These
ideas taken from different cultures are to make one feel as part of them all.
The artists want to bring art in to the community and make it part of everyday
life. They hope that their work will be an inspiration for everyone to get
interested about their own roots and also the multicultural community around
them. The park is open to all and serves as a refreshing environment to people
in Pikku Huopalahti. It was opened August 23rd 2005.
The Journey of the
Wise man
Photos (from left
to right):1.-3.:painting, video and bird by Sanna Karlsson-Sutisna, in the
2.Vesa-Petteri Asikainen, 4.-5. Keanne van de Kreeke: Memory eggs by Keanne van
de Kreeke
Manuscript and directing: Vesa-Petteri
Asikainen
Music and singing: Sampsa
Hallikainen
Paintings, bird and video: Sanna Karlsson-Sutisna
”Memory eggs”:
Keanne van de Kreeke
Production: PerformanceSirkus
It is a colourful, cheerful and peaceful performance
designed for very young children. The aesthetic milieu with its paintings,
sculptures and sounds provides a setting for a performance without words and
warm, shared intimacy between a child and an accompanying adult.
The creation is inspired by “Star Sky Temple”, which
was performed in the Children Theatre Festival in Helsinki 2005. “The Journey
of the Wise man” has developed to a more story based performance, which
can be varied to fit to different circumstances, from bigger stages to small
kinder gardens. The director and scriptwriter is the main actor (the Wise Man),
Vesa-Petteri Asikainen, who has been working over twenty years with and for
children. He is also the director of the theatre PerformanceSirkus. Sanna
Karlsson-Sutisna’s paintings and sculpture and Keanne van de Kreeke’s Memory
Eggs create the surrounding, the installation, in which the story takes place.
This cross art performance contains elements from old Finnish traditions, which
can especially be heard in the vocal sounds of the singer Riitta Leivo. At
the end of the performance the children can go into the world of the
wise Man. They are allowed to come and play with the items of the performance.
There is also a separate installation enclosed the
performance.
www.performancesirkus.com www.vesa-petteriasikainen.com www.karlsson-sutisna.com www.keanne.be
Former project Star Sky Temple (12.-18.3.2005) in Helsinki
(Malmitalo and Stoa)
Photograph:
Sampsa Hallikainen
Manuscript
and directing: Päivi Aura
Choreography: Päivi Aura, Sanna Karlsson-Sutisna
Music: Antti Ikonen
Lighting: Keijo Vainio
Staging: Vesa Holsti
Costume: Päivi Aura, Sanna Karlsson-Sutisna and Balinese dance
costumes (the Wings)
Paintings and bird: Sanna Karlsson-Sutisna
Performers: Vesa-Petteri
Asikainen, Sanna Karlsson-Sutisna
Video: Sanna
Karlsson-Sutisna, Jaakko Luukanen (technical support)
"Memory eggs”: Keanne van de Kreeke
Star Sky Temple is
a colourful, cheerful and peaceful performance designed for the very young
children, even for babies. This aesthetic milieu with its paintings,
sculptures and sounds like the song of the wind and the rushing sea provides
the setting for a performance without words and a warm, shared intimacy between
the child and accompanying adult.
The fundamental
element of the performance is an atmosphere-creating installation of changing
sounds and colours. A man finds three big eggs on the shore. Each egg contains
a world of its own from which are born the sun, the moon and the stars in the
sky. The artists were inspired by tales and legends from different countries,
such as Finland’s Kalevala in which Väinämöinen is born of the waves and the
world of an egg and also the myths of Bali in which the sun plays a leading
role. When the man has sailed back to sea, the children can, with the help of
the adults, examine the works of art and elements of the stage: the sand is
real and children can peep through the eggs.
The production is
based on an idea of Sanna Karlsson-Sutisna and adapted for the stage by Päivi
Aura.