Ludwig Museum Koblenz - contemporary french and international art

Memory Traces – Contemporary Art from Finland
31. January 2010 - 21. March 2010

Jan Ijäs, Ghosts, 2008, documentary film,
35 mm / DVD, 15 Min.

Opening

We would like to invite you, your family and friends to the exhibition opening on Sun, 31. January 2010 at 11 a.m. at the Ludwig Museum Koblenz.

Welcome by

H.E. Harry Helenius
Ambassador to Finland, Berlin

Dagmar Barzen
Director (Struktur- und Genehmigungsdirektion Nord)

Risto Ruohonen
Director General of the National Art Museums of Finland, Helsinki

Introduction

Dr. Beate Reifenscheid
Director of the Ludwig Museum, Koblenz

Accompanied by music

Jarkko Riihimäki
Pianist

Patron

H.E. Harry Helenius
Ambassador to Finland, Berlin

About the exhibition

Fifteen young Finnish artists are involved in this exhibition, which deals with the individual search for one's own traces in memory - hence the name “Memory Traces”. In their diverse works, these artists employ very unconventional stylistic devices to trace experiences of the individual with the help of their own memories, leading the observer into mazes of remembering and experiencing: Memory enables us to preserve experiences and then recollect them at a later time. However, there is no definite relation between memory and experience as memory adapts to the conditions of different times and environments and thus continually creates its own world anew. The works shown in this exhibition include paintings, sculptures, object art, videos, installations, photographs and drawings. They reflect the diversity of artistic means of expression used in contemporary art in Finland - a country that more and more can be regarded as a centre of contemporary art in Europe. With this project, developed in close cooperation with the artists and supported by the Finland Institute in Germany, Berlin, the Embassy of Finland, Berlin, as well as the German-Finnish Society, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, the Ludwig Museum would like to tie up to the successful exhibition in 2007, in which works of the three Finnish photographers Aino Kannisto, Eva Persson and Tiina Itkonen were presented together for the first time. Along with numerous side-events, especially the exclusive concerts, this exhibition will be a true festival of Finnish art and culture. Following the exhibition in Koblenz, the show can be visited in Berlin from 16. April – 23. May 2010.

Curators

The exhibition is jointly curated by:
- Mika Karhu, Finland
- Mikko Ijäs, Finland
- Dr. Beate Reifenscheid, Ludwig Museum

Catalogue

A bilingual catalogue on this project, which is chiefly organised and managed by the Ludwig Museum, Koblenz, will be published by Silvana Editoriale, Mailand: German/English, 144 p., containing approx. 90 coloured illustrations, a greeting by H.E. Harry Helenius, Ambassador to Finland, Berlin, a preface by Dr. Beate Reifenscheid, director of the Ludwig Museum, texts by Juha-Heikki Tihinen, Mika Karhu and Mikko Ijäs, as well as an interview between Dr. Reifenscheid and the two artists, Mika Karhu and Mikko Ijäs.

Complementary programme

Several events will be held alongside this exhibition:
- Concerts of the Rheinische Philharmonie and the Music School of Koblenz (piano, cello, Folk, kantele, violin, accordion etc.)
- Workshops and lectureson Finnish art
- Finnish Language course
- Candle-light dinner: The Finnish chef Helmut Rauniaho will travel from Jyväskylä to Koblenz exclusively for this event! Together with the chefs of the Restaurant-Café Blumenhof, which is situated near the Ludwig Museum, he will create a real Finnish menue.
- Author readings for children

You will find the complete programme with all dates under the link “PROGRAM”.

Artists

The participating artists are (in alphabetical order):
- Markus Copper, sculptor
- Saara Ekström, photographer
- Maija Helasvuo, sculptor
- Armas Hursti, xylography
- Jan Ijäs, video artist
- Mikko Ijäs, artist (computergenerated drawings)
- Minna Jatkola, painter and graphic artist
- Kaarina Kaikkonen, (outdoor) installation artist
- Mika Karhu, installation and graphic artist
- Ria Piritta Mette, drawings, Land Art, projects with other artists
- Jyrki Parantainen, Professor of photography, graphic artist
- Seppo Renvall, video and multimedia-artist
- Juha Sääski, painter
- Marianna Uutinen, painter
- Henry Wuorila-Stenberg, painter