Piece of Heaven is here. The installation where the textiles from different corners of the world meet. Artists are sharing their stories about what is “The Piece of Heaven” for them. The installation combines pieces of heaven made of different textile techniques and materials with heavenly sounds describing the soundscape related to these feelings of having “A Piece of Heaven”. Some of the stories tell that the “Piece of Heaven” is found in family and friends, while for someone else it’s found in nature. The sounds related to these feelings describe the sound of snow when skiing, the cracking of firewood, children singing, or the soothing sounds of water. The textiles were produced by different artist groups and communities in Finland (University of Lapland), Russia (MASU), Australia (Arts Up and Fibrespace), China (BYICAA), and Namibia (UNAM). The sounds and stories were documented by these same communities. Some of the sounds were recorded and collected by Satu Miettinen, Melanie Sarantou, and Jari Rinne. A large part of the voices was collected through sound probes, where the communities themselves documented the stories and sounds following written guidelines. This installation came together as a collaborative and connecting effort. I will be enjoying and remembering the production of the artwork for a long time. Artists came together to think about the most important things for them, describing and documenting the soundscape related to this, and sharing the stories and textiles. The help of friends and colleagues during the process was invaluable: Melanie Sarantou, Daria Akimenko, Tanya Ashutova, Maria Caley, and Maria Keskipoikela. Getting sound artist Jari Rinne on board was amazing. The installation really starts to rock with the soundscape. As an artist, I’m pleased and happy. It will be amazing to see the images of the installation from Port Augusta from the Voices exhibition. This installation truly is about “voices”. From the researcher’s point of view, I need to still listen and think about the stories and write about the process. The data and experiences related to the process are valuable. There is still more to come from “Piece of Heaven”.

.Designers/Artists

Satu Miettinen design and concept
Jari Rinne soundscape

Artists

Heidi Pietarinen
Jenni-Liisa Yliniva
Essi Kuure
Melanie Sarantou
Eleni Sarantou
Maria Mbereshu
Laimi Ndapunikwa Mbangula
Risto Iita
Cheng Quansheng
Anastasia Lezina
Lyubov Kuznetsova
Anna Chernova
Daria Gorelona
Ksenia Trubnikova
Elizaveta Yarkova
Daniila Semyonova
Alexandra Sobyanina
Anastasia Dorogokuplya
Natalia Prikhodko
Yana Ilyina
Helen Burt
Ruth McTulloch
Georgie Sharp
Tammy Colman
Pam Stringer
Jonathan Hawkins-Clarke
Chris Nayda
Melva Waterman
Catherine Summers
Jan Hucks
Toni Foster
Liz McTaggart
Lauren Karp
Rosemaree Skelton
Tiffany Williams
Jackie Fiebig

Many thanks to the facilitators: Daria Akimenko, Tanya Ashutova, Maria Caley, Maria Keskipoikela, Vic Sarantou and Pasi Kelahaara

Many thanks to our exhibition master Leila Lipiäinen