PAVILION OF FINLAND AT THE 58TH INTERNATIONAL ART EXHIBITION

Pavilion of Finland at the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia

The Miracle Workers Collective (MWC) present their inaugural project, A Greater Miracle of Perception, for the Finnish Pavilion at the 58th International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia.

“It demands great spiritual resilience not to hate the hater whose foot is on your neck, and an even greater miracle of perception and charity not to teach your child to hate.”

James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time, 1963

The MWC is formed and informed by a transdisciplinary and transnational community of artists, lmmakers, writers, intellectuals, performers, and activists including: writer Maryan Abdulkarim; writer and filmmaker Khadar Ahmed; writer and filmmaker Hassan Blasim; choreographer Sonya Lindfors; artist and activist Outi Pieski; visual artist and musician Leena Pukki; visual artist and activist Martta Tuomaala; spatial designer Lorenzo Sandoval; cinematographer Christopher L. Thomas and storyteller Suvi West, as well as curators Giovanna Esposito Yussif, Christopher Wessels, and Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung.

Exploring the miracle as a poetic vehicle from which to expand perceptions and experiences, the exhibition is realised through cinematic collaborations by members of the collective, and a site-speci c sculptural installation by Outi Pieski gesturing
to the transnationality of the Sámi people across Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Russia. Creating a space of encounters upon which to pause and re ect, the pavilion challenges the notion of national representation and belonging.

“We are shifting beyond the realm of the possible, exploring moments regarded as ‘failures’ and exploring technologies of listening and seeing to chart the journey of the impossible,” says the collective, “while deliberating the importance of processuality in collective practices.”

“For us, this is an exciting journey”, says Raija Koli, Director of Frame and commissioner of the exhibition. “By bringing together the multidisciplinary practices and diverse backgrounds of its members, the Miracle Workers are rearticulating the idea of a contemporary art exhibition at the Finnish Pavilion. The collective is also exploring the parameters of the biennial concept by taking the Biennale out of Venice and all the way to Karasjok into the circumpolar North.”