Performance and a textile installation were used as media to draw attention to human and sustainability issues relevant to the Kemijoki River and the local communities of Finnish Lapland that live in proximity to and in harmony with the river. This project explored a site-specific installation on the banks of the Kemi as part of an artivist action titled “Salmon War,” or lohisota. Artist-researchers Satu Miettinen, Taina Kontio, Mari Mäkiranta, and Melanie Sarantou implemented this project in support of Professor Vesa Puuronen, who was fined €20,000 for leaving two pictures of salmon as graffiti, along with slogans, on private property owned by the Kemijoki Oy electricity company at Pirttikoski and Seitakorva. Puuronen used the graffiti to protest against the proposed Sierilä power plant, which is set to be built on the banks of the Kemi. The artist-researchers carried out this artivist action to raise awareness about the destruction of the indigenous salmon populations in the Kemi River and to advocate for environmental actions that could support the return of these fish populations. For example, they proposed creating bypasses for the salmon. Furthermore, the group aimed to highlight the unprecedented and severe legal consequences faced by Puuronen for his graffiti art, which was intended as a form of protest.

Visit the exhibition virtually.

Documents of Socially Engaged Art at Space A, Spazju Kreattiv – ​Malta 10.12.2021 – 23.1. 2022​

Related research: Huhmarniemi, M., Miettinen, S. and Sarantou, M. (2023). SoftPowerArt: Tackling Environmental and Societal Conflicts. In Arts-Based Interventions and Social Change in Europe. Kárpáti, A. Ed. Routledge.

Related research: Miettinen, S., & Sarantou, M. (2021). Five Salmon and Two Fish (viisi lohta ja kaksi kalaa). In R. Vella, & M. Sarantou (Eds.), Documents of Socially Engaged Art (pp. 37-47). International Society for Education Through Art (InSEA).