It’s Raining, It’s Pouring (Part 1)

The weather bureau turned out to be very accurate. It was forecast to rain for most of the day and, rain it did. We decided it would be a good opportunity to see a few museums, so that’s what we did, along with everyone else in Helsinki!

We went to Kiasma first, which is the Museum of Contemporary Art. On arrival, after securing a locker and taking off the many layers of clothing, we went to get tickets and discovered that entry was free as it was the first Friday of the month. That explained the big crowds.

We started with the temporary exhibition, Feels Like Home. It tackled the pressing issue of what makes people feel a sense of belonging to a community or a place. How is the sense of belonging reflected in our identity, our relationship with other people and more broadly in society? The exhibition was made up of works from a range of mediums including installations, videos, paintings, photographs and sculptures.

There were works made of pieces of fabric and textiles placed throughout the exhibition which can be picked up by the museum guards at any time and carried around the galleries. These were created by Essi Kausalainen in collaboration with the customer service team, and are based on the personal experiences of the guards’ encounters in the museum space. They are the ones who spend the most time with the artworks and the visitors. Sadly, we didn’t see any guards “performing “.

There were several videos in the exhibition, but I found one particularly emotional, interesting, confronting and compelling. It depicted the love story of two long-haired trans men. Over the course of one year, the artist couple documented their relationship from their first encounter to milestones such as meeting each other’s parents for the first time. The emotional moments recorded in the photos and chat messages tell a transatlantic story of two people falling in love and finding a connection. It is also a story about trans masculinity. The relationship acquires new depth after Z Walsh undergoes gender reassignment surgery. The work celebrates queer and trans love through the entanglement of art and life, and was done so well in a 13 minute video. The art gallery itself is a beautiful modern building.Read more