The Margin-to-Margin project concluded recently. It demonstrated that art empowered women in remote areas to redefine their roles as artists, researchers, friends, wives, and mothers. By mastering craftsmanship, these women gained power. As they acquired technical knowledge, learned to work with different materials, and engaged with their local culture, they developed a sense of self-worth and the ability to adapt to change. The project involved 98 women from 10 countries. Through collaborative workshops, they shared knowledge, skills, personal stories, and mutual support. These workshops also opened new avenues for self-expression. The geographical context influenced both their artwork and their daily lives. The exhibition “Naisia maailman laidalla – Margin to Margin,” held at the Helinä Rautavaara Museum, showcased clever, resourceful, and solution-oriented women who confronted challenges such as geographical isolation, marginalization, and migration. Their everyday struggles included seeking employment and navigating long distances. Social media and networking proved beneficial in finding opportunities. Some women chose to live in remote areas, while others grappled with the decision of whether to stay or leave. Thank you for visiting our exhibition, which ran from September 6, 2017, to January 7, 2018, at the Helinä-Museum in Espoo.

“Creativity helps to deal with my emotions and understand myself better. Personal discussions with textiles are very empowering. Materiality, layered structures, and spatial thinking reveal the true nature of the artwork once the audience is facing this.” One part of the Margin-to-Margin exhibition at Helinä Rautavaara Museum in September 2017 was a series of portraits. These women artists from Finland and Namibia were exchanging ideas about positioning themselves and their artwork. It was a precious process to discuss and meet with women working with textiles, fashion, visual arts, architecture, and graphic design. So many things to learn and share.

Margin-to-Margin exhibition at Helinä-museo in Espoo, Finland, 6.9.2017 – 7.1. 2018

Related research: Akimenko, D., Sarantou, M. A. C., & Miettinen, S. A. (2017). Narrating identities through art-making on the margins: the case of two workshop in the Arctic. Arctic yearbook, 6, 97-111. https://www.arcticyearbook.com/images/Articles_2017/scholarly-articles/5_Narrating_Identities_Through_Art.pdf

Related research: Akimenko, D., Escudeiro, N., Sarantou, M. and Miettinen, S. (2017). IDoc: a technology tool as a platform for exploring data. In Proceedings of the 29th Australian Conference on Computer-Human Interaction (OzCHI ’17). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 571–575. https://doi.org/10.1145/3152771.3156173

Related research: Miettinen, S., Sarantou, M. & Akimenko, D. (2016). Art and Storytelling as an Empowerment Tool for Service Design: South Australian Case Study. In P. Rytilahti & S. Miettinen (eds.) For Profit, for Good. Developing Organizations through Service Design. University of Lapland, Rovaniemi, Finland.