To celebrate the leap day I will note a few events from the beginning of the year as a reminder of those great experiences. First of all I had an exhibition in MUU Helsinki Contemporay Art Centre, Pondering with Pines – Conversations in Three Languages 7-21. January. The material from the exhibition is available on this RC-page. There was a conversation with Olga Cielemecka and Karoliina Lummaa in connection with the exhibition on 13 January. Moreover, I was selected an honorary member of Muu, together with Irma Optimist and Terike Haapoja and we celebrated that on 19 January. Listening with a Pine-mix (2023) was part of a one-day exhibition “Strolling Creatures of Light” in MUU on 26 January. Participating in Sanna Kekäläinen’s performance Auringonvihreä in the Helsinki Observatory, reading Gunnar Björling’s poems in their original language, Swedish, at the end of the show was a beautiful experience in another way on 25-27 January. In February I had an online lecture for MA students at Stockholm University of the Arts on 2 February, led a seminar for Norwegian doctoral candidates in artistic research in Oslo 7-9 February and participated in the pre-examination of a doctoral dissertation jointly organised by Tallinn University and Åbo Akademi on 15 February. And the seminar on auto-theory etc. at University of the Arts Helsinki continues a few more times on 24 January, 14 February and 14 March. The Muu Gala compilation was screened in Lappeenranta on 17 February, including my small video Day with a Pine (2020) although I could not go there to see it. Another short video of mine, Rakas Kuusi or Dear Pine (2020) is shown in a screening compiled by AV-arkki, the Distribution Centre for Finnish Media Art, “Trees & Destruction” at the Tampere shortfilm festival on 7 and 9 March. And I will go to Tampere as a first timer to marvel at the ways of the film world.
For me the start of the year usually means instigating new processes, as I did this time as well. Only my visits to the pine by Essingeleden motorway in Stockholm will continue from last year. In Helsinki I chose four new pine trees in January to visit once a month: The Pine of the Year in Kaivopuisto Park that I will “play” blues harp for, two pine trees on the shore in Kaivopuisto Park that I will chat with in English, a pine on the shore in Drumsö that I will address in Swedish and a pine on the shore in Mustikkamaa that I will speak Finnish with. Disappointments are unavoidable, as many applications receive negative responses, and so are small accidents – during the last weeks I have had my teeth repaired several times – but I have to say that the year has commenced well. Let’s hope the tailwind will continue…