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The growing inequality and increasing deprivation in society is made visible in the heart of Helsinki, as artist Riikka Kuoppala’s exhibition opens inside Sanomatalo. The exhibition, entitled Mommy, I'm hungry! (Äiti, mulla on nälkä) is part of the Common Responsibility Campaign 2010, which will be raising funds for poor families with children in both Finland and in disaster-stricken Haiti.
At the core of the exhibition is Kuoppala’s installation composed of food donations, much like a visualised canned-goods drive. Visitors are encouraged to participate by bringing in foodstuffs that keep in the warm and bright exhibition space.
“We’ll be there in blue boiler suits to take in donations,” says Kuoppala over the phone. “There will be two volunteers on standby every day between 12:00 and 18:00 during the exhibition.” When the exhibition closes the accumulated provisions will be distributed to families with children.
Last year Kuoppala built a similar installation at Alkovigalleria in Helsinki’s Kallio district. That time the eight and a half by one metre exhibition space was filled with food. This time, however, the entire project is brought to a much more visible location.
“I wanted the whole process to be transparent,” Kuoppala explains. “By organising the distribution of the food donations in such a central and public place I hope to bring up the fact that there are people in need in this society, and that there’s no shame in that.”
Mother, I am Hungry
Until Fri 12 Feb
Sanomatalo
Töölönlahdenkatu 2
The donated food will be
given out to families on
Sat 13 Feb
from 12:00 onwards. |
The artwork as a whole consists of more than just the installation, including public discussion and audience participation. From Monday 8 to Friday 12 February Sanoma House will also host a “social cooking class”, where gastronomy meets critical discussion on issues of poverty and welfare. Cooking delicious budget meals alongside Kuoppala will be, for example Hannele Seitsonen of the Anarchist Marthas, two self-proclaimed “bin divers” and former Chechen refugee Asman Amagova. Besides engaging in a debate about poverty they will be presented with the challenge of creating a meal for only two euros.
Matti Koskinen - HT |
