Author Archives: Johanna

About Johanna

artist and curator

Kootut askeleet: Johanna Tuukkanen

Keskiviikkona 7.11. klo 20.40, uusinta to 8.11. klo 16.40.

Kootut Askeleet on 15-osainen ohjelmasarja, joka esittelee suomalaisia eturivin nykytanssikoreografeja. Taiteilijahaastatteluissa pääosassa ovat tekijät ja teokset.

Sarjan jokaisessa jaksossa tutustutaan yhteen koreografiin, joka kertoo teoksensa taiteellisista lähtökohdista, valmistusprosessista sekä työskentelystä tanssijoiden ja muiden tanssiteoksen luomiseen osallistuvien taiteellisten yhteistyökumppaneiden kanssa.

Tässä jaksossa esitellään vuonna 1973 syntynyt tanssija, koreografi ja live-art -taiteilija Johanna Tuukkanen. Hänellä on BA -tutkinto Arnhemissa sijaitsevasta College for Arts, European Dance Development Centre -koulusta. Hän on toiminut ANTI – Contemporary Art Festivalin toisena taiteellisena johtajana vuodesta 2002 ja hänelle myönnettiin taiteen valtionpalkinto vuonna 2006.

Johanna Tuukkanen tunnetaan teoksistaan Lumoava horisontti (1999), Metamorphosis Perfervidus Osa 2: Body Freight (2001), Seinän takana (2004) sekä teossarjastaan Fyysillistaiteellisia tekoja 1-5.

In studio today

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Worked hard, moved a lot, wrote a lot, felt sick at some point, enjoyed the space and peacefulness of having a long period alone in studio, did some crazy things and of course just as I was cleaning up my mess in underwear only, someone walked in to get a video projector. I thought it was funny but she was probably scared.
Really tired now, have to write my column as well.

Johanna

Thinking

The children are in school and daycare, I didn’t need to rush anywhere this morning, it’s quiet and I have time to think. Isn’t that unusual?
I realize I’m left wondering about one article by Janne Saarakkala I read the other day on a bus. The article has appeared in a new Finnish magazine called Esitys (Performance) and it’s titled Ajattelemisen poliittisuudesta (’About the political nature of thinking’, my translation). It was really inspiring and reminded me how and maybe why thinking is not encourage in our society, how straining and difficult thinking is and how it takes time – which we don’t have. Or do we? Could we?
Anyway, as I’m sitting here, thank god away from Facebook, I cannot but enjoy the quietness, the space before going into the studio, a time that is not fulfilled by tasks I need to urgently complete. Just being here. I know there are million things I need to do and could be doing them as well, but there will be a time for those as well. They don’t need to be here and now. Is it possible to relax now and enjoy the moment, knowing that there are unfinished issues that need to be addressed? I believe so. And to celebrate this thought a little bit more, I’m going to take a walk in the woods now.

Hope you can take the time, too.

Johanna

Greetings from Norway!

Came back from Norway last night and was happy that all flights were on time and luggage wasn’t lost once. It’s the simple things you start to appreciate when you are away from home. My meetings in Helsinki went really well and were meaningful to me. Managed to see the new works of Eeva Muilu and Jyrki Karttunen in Helsinki and got so happy about them. To visit the Performance Festival in Hamar was also inspiring and of course it was great to see new works by many wonderful artists. I think my talk was ok as well. But nothing beats ANTI. It’s just so different to watch works in the same location and pretty much the same space, one after the other, than to actually explore various situations and ways of engaging with the work.

After flying to different city every day and too short nights, I had to dash into the office in the morning to send some documents to Brussels and to work on ANTI’s funding applications. I’m also working on my own applications and trying to find time to go to the studio as well. The work never ends. But so it seems to be with everyone whether you are from Helsinki, Malmö, Stavanger or Kuopio…

Thanks to Ingrid for inviting me to Hamar and thanks to Pilvi, Maija, Essi, Virve, Anne-Marte, Roi, Irma, Elin, Petter, Annika and everyone for a companionship.

Johanna

Busy days

I’m off to Helsinki tomorrow and to Hamar, Norway on Saturday. This week I’ve been working on the solo in the studio, having a luxurious time on my own, escaping the domestic issues. I have a lot of material and I’m still in the process of seeing into which direction it all is going to go… I’ve been also preparing my talk in Hamar, working on some grant applications and arranging meetings.
I’m so much looking forward to spending a day in Helsinki and the weekend seeing a lot of performances at Kunstbanken in Hamar. I’ll meet Anne-Marte from Stavanger in Hamar and Maija Hirvanen and Annika Tudeer, amongst others. Great! And tomorrow in Helsinki I’ll meet with Benoit from Brussels and Geir from Stavanger and I’ll stay with my producer Maija. I’m sure it will be a lot of work but also really good and inspiring. Today I got to know that I got a travel grant to visit Iceland next year and I’m so much looking forward to that as well!

Hopefully I’ll see you all in Hamar.

Johanna

I have…

too many unfinished and –done things in my mind. Hard to pretend to be on holiday when there’s so much stuff to do. Had a nice birthday the other day; prepared a dinner with the kids and baked some mud cake. Had some friends over for dinner and had a lovely time. Drank too much cava, though, spent the day after strictly in bed. How stupid.
Today was mellow; my son brought for me coffee to bed and my daughter some toast. That has never happened before! Went Nordic walking with my son although it was kind of cold and windy. We checked out some houses along the way and once again realized that they are really very boring and poor in design. Before it got dark, we managed to work on the panelling with Pekka. There should be a good weather to continue that tomorrow.
Hope you are well. And not as much at Facebook as I am.

Johanna

I love…

the way my mind is working on the new solo piece. Spending last week in studio, I definitely got the process going. Next week is a school holiday here so the kids are at home and I don’t have studio time booked. But I’m thinking I might have sneak into studio as I have lots of things in mind I want to work with and try out. Exciting! I could work outside if only it wasn’t so cold.

On Friday I went to the strategy meeting of the regional dance centre, and to my shock, I was the ONLY one there! Well, I had a good conversation with Vilja and also Jari later on, so I didn’t mind. But still, I don’t understand how a total lack of dialogue is possible here. We’ll try to arrange another meeting soon, but it doesn’t really wipe away the experience of this one.

We have been working on panelling the house. Keeping in mind the height of the house, it’s going surprisingly well. It’s only the rain that was troubling us today and we couldn’t continue very long. Yesterday we finished the north wall, all the way up! Pekka was really high on the simple ladder, I tried to help the best I could. To avoid any form of mishaps in the future, I just saw a few top 10 best reviews for a good ladder, so that all the further work goes on smoothly with complete safety. ulkoverhousta102007_3low.jpg

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I still love the panel and it’s going to be so beautiful. The colour differences are due to the iron sulphite reacting (i.e. making the wood turn grey) to UV-rays and humidity/water. So the fresh panel is lighter because it’s been in a shed where it doesn’t get wet or too much sunlight. But it surprisingly quickly evens out, at least, let’s say in about a year.

Johanna

I didn’t…

have studio space today so worked at home. Office and book keeping stuff, not so exciting but good to do. I’ll go to studio tomorrow morning with all my stuff; it’s hilarious how much I have things to take to studio! Whether it’s milk cartons, clothes or like now, cosmetics, it feels I soon need a truck to move around. I’m working in this really beautiful studio that is located in a kind of service centre for elderly people. I feel quite comfortable and cosy in there in the midst of all the old people and grannies. It’s also funny how they every now and then pop into the studio and there am I, a ton of cosmetic boxes and packages around me, putting some aroma therapy oil on my skin…and they might say: Good day! Do you have children?
I should get going more actively with the ideas of sound, costume and images. But somehow I’m not ready yet.
The weather has now changed completely and it’s freezing. I’m so happy ANTI is not going on now. Today was so cold with an icy breeze but also incredibly beautiful and bright.
I met with Niila the other day and complained about the function of the arts council. He pretty much agreed to what I said but didn’t really give any hope that things would change, not with the current members anyway. But it was good to be talking and I guess sharing my concerns and thoughts.

Hope you are well,
Johanna

The latest column, in Finnish

Missä ovat kansainvälisesti menestyneet (itä)suomalaiset live art –tähdet?

Jo kuudennen kerran ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival toi Kuopioon viikonloppuna suuren joukon taiteilijoita, kuraattoreita, yleisöä ja asiantuntijoita eri puolilta Suomea, Eurooppaa, Yhdysvaltoja ja Australiaa. Minulle ANTI-festivaalin yleisö, suosio ja kansainvälinen tunnettuus on todistanut, että kokeellisille, innovatiivisille ja ei-niin-konventionaalisille taiteen muodoille on kysyntää, tarvetta ja tilausta. Olen vakuuttunut, että aivan liian usein turhaan pelätään, että kokeellisempi nykytaide ei kiinnostaisi tai vetäisi puoleensa laajaakin kansainvälistä yleisöä.
Kuuden vuoden aikana ANTI on tuonut Suomeen maailman merkittävimpiä live art –taiteilijoita, monet heistä ensimmäistä kertaa. ANTI toimii myös
yhä enenevässä määrin suomalaisen nykytaiteen vientitapahtumana ja useat
suomalaiset taiteilijat ovat saaneet merkittävää kansainvälistä huomiota festivaalin kautta. Yksi ANTI-festivaalin järjestämän seminaarin luennoitsijoista, amerikkalainen taidehistorian professori Jennie Klein nosti esille, että monet festivaalin taiteilijoista ovat sittemmin lyöneet itsensä läpi kansainvälisellä live art -taiteen kentällä ja ovat tänä päivänä todella menestyneitä. Mutta Klein huomautti, että sama ei ole tapahtunut suomalaisten taiteilijoiden kohdalla. Missä ovat suomalaiset maailmalla tunnetut live art –tähdet?
Onko Itä-Suomessa yhtäkään taide- ja kulttuurialan organisaatiota, joka työskentelisi pitkäjänteisesti alueellisten taiteilijoiden kansainvälisen toiminnan käynnistämisen tai edistämisen eteen? Mikä on taidetoimikuntien tai kaupunkien rooli taiteilijoiden kansainvälistymisessä? Paljon puhutaan kulttuuriviennistä, mutta Opetusministeriön kulttuurivientiyksikkö tuskin pystyy yksin vastaamaan koko suomalaisen taidekentän vientitarpeisiin ja –tavoitteisiin. Vientiyksiköt tietoni mukaan sijaitsevat pääkaupunkiseudulla enkä ole lainkaan vakuuttunut, että niillä on resursseja seurata aktiivisesti koko Suomen taidekenttää. Välittääkö kukaan oikeasti itäsuomalaisista taiteilijoista, heidän tulevaisuudestaan ja työnsä kehittymisestä? Pikku hiljaa on alettu tiedostamaan tapahtumien merkitys kaupungeille (mm. Kulttuuritapahtumat iskevät virtaa aluetalouksille, HS 31.7.2007), mutta tiedostetaanko taiteilijoiden?

Johanna Tuukkanen