Thanks to the schoolchildren in Vaasa and Espoo, I had the opportunity to exhibit a felted and collaborative textile art piece titled “Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom” at Valo Gallery in Arktikum, Rovaniemi. This piece emerged from collaborative felting workshops held at the Vaasa Art Gallery and Helinä Rautavaara Museum, where the children envisioned all the possible flowers that could exist while creating their felted flowers. This collaborative artwork was part of the “Ystävällisesti teidän” (“Sincerely Yours”) exhibition, which opened on November 13, 2017. The piece was previously displayed at Vaasa Art Gallery (Vaasan Taidehalli) during the “Kohtaamisia” exhibition alongside Mari Mäkiranta and Reetta Kerola from February 11 to March 19, 2017. In Vaasa, the textile installation was created from separate small felted pieces arranged over a wire structure in the gallery space. Additionally, the children’s stories about the flowers were documented and recorded at Vaasa Art Gallery. The installation has since changed shape, with the flower field beginning to bloom as the pieces take form and grow. Who knows what might happen next in the felted flower field? There is already a carnivorous plant and some flies present. Throughout the collaborative workshops with children, I reflected on themes of tolerance and multiculturalism in our society. The goal was to allow everyone to create their own kind of flower in the field as they wished, promoting harmony and interaction among different forms and shapes in a tangible way. I aimed to reinterpret the Hundred Flowers Campaign of Mao Zedong, transforming it into a hands-on artivist project with children rather than a closed political statement. I hope this project continues to evolve, marking just the beginning of the flower field.

Let a hundred flowers bloom installation at Kohtaamisia exhibition at Vaasa Art Museum 11.2.-19.3.2017 and at “Ystävällisesti teidän” (“Sincerely Yours”) exhibition, which opened on November 13, 2017.