Friday was a very productive day. I visited 7 places: 5 galleries and 2 museums. Some of these organisations were contacted via email and a few responded. As one progresses in a task, the 'nature' of the job starts to reveal issues particular to that job. For instance I realised that there was an element of 'unpredictability' in this work in terms of time constraints, communication barriers, availability of suitable person and physical movement (distance, navigation, time, etc.). A typical visit comprises of some background research on the organisation being visited, communication via email and depending on response/no response making decision to physically visit the place to meet the desired person, discuss future networking possibilities and give them the information pack. In bigger, popular places like museums one often encountered reception/information desk personnel while in smaller galleries one could get lucky to meet the director! It is great to get a positive response. Meeting the right person would lead to interesting conversations and also open up other possibilities. Finding directions is an important element of this job. I have been using GPS with Google maps to find addresses. While it is an efficient way to find addresses sometimes it can get very annoying and one wishes to simply have a good old compass and a map or find the way by looking at the stars! Again one's phone must be fully charged for this task, preferably with unlimited data to use, maps application, a good pair of healthy legs and a little risk-taking behaviour! By risk taking behaviour I mean use some intuitive sense and do the opposite of what the GPS tells you - could lead to some pleasant shortcuts! Also thanks to Paul who informed of this setting on Google maps which lets you keep the map north up. I want to introduce two very interesting galleries I visited: Galleria Huuto: This is an independent artists collective and maintains two galleries in Helsinki - one on Uudenmaankatu and other on Jätkäsaari. I visited the former first and the gallery assistant was kind enough to give the director's phone number. The director was extremely responsive on the phone and very interested in the proposal. She invited me to the other branch of the gallery in the evening where I could meet her and also attend the opening of 4 exhibitions simultaneously! It was a busy time for the director but I was given ample time to explain briefly the Erasmus+ programme, GTI, the art courses and needs of the students with regards to their work experience in galleries. Her interest indicated that she would be happy to accommodate GTI students next year provided there are tasks which can be assigned to the students. One of the artists exhibiting that evening was Ulla-Mari Lindstrom. Her work comprised of a study created with the help of natural science and visual arts - a fictional hybrid herbarium. It depicted possible structures of new potential species randomly generated using parts of plants and animals collected in nature. Some photos are posted at the end of this blog post. Also you can find out more about her work by clicking on her name above. MUU Gallery: This is a gallery space and office of the MUU Artists Association. I met Ville the gallery coordinator who linked me with the director. I am meeting the director on Tuesday and looking forward to it. From MUU's website:......is an uncommercial multiform stage for installations, video art, audio pieces and performance exhibitions. The gallery presents artists whose works have yet to be seen in mainstream galleries, but also acclaimed representatives of experimental art. The artistic course is determined by the choices made by the board of exhibition and the curators. Artists-run spaces and collectives are heaven for practising and emerging artists. Unlike big museums and galleries these places are run democratically in a very supportive and collaborative environment. These are spaces where one could be heard. On Saturday I visited the Taidehalli, HAM Museum, Amos Anderson Museum and Gallery Anhava.
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Art + Animation 2016/17Paul Cluskey Map of Vantaa |