Taina Kontio and Satu Miettinen’s photos and videos are part of the AMASS (Acting on the Margins: Arts as Social Sculpture) project, which is funded by the European Union and serves as a testing platform for artistic experiments. One of the project’s key themes is exploring the different forms that art as a social sculpture can take. Both artists examine the role of women and their representation within a historical context, seeking new ways and meanings to depict women’s roles and bodies. The collective of artists and researchers featured in these works collaborates on issues related to sustainable development, nature, bioart, and art activism. Taina Kontio has filmed her art in backyards, echoing the adventures of her father and grandfather. In the images, the women are dressed in the old winter clothing worn by the men of the Kontio family and are depicted holding essential tools, such as traditional work knives and belts. The photos include Taina, Satu, and Melanie Sarantou. Taina Kontio reflects on the contrast between her childhood space and that of her father. Her father and grandfather travelled throughout the Lapland region, particularly along the rivers and border rivers on the Norwegian side. The Varang fjord and the forest Sámi are part of the family’s heritage. Taina’s personal history, including her family’s move from Kuusamo to Kiiminki in the 18th century and their resistance to Finnish land ownership, serves as a backdrop for the images. Her work highlights and expands her own boundaries, creating new spaces for exploration. The imagery also reimagines Arctic exploration expeditions, allowing women to broaden their roles and reenact historical events.

Traditional Finnish saunas are different for women compared to those for men, mainly due to the many transitions in the lives of women that influence the diverse activities that women undertake in the space of healing, nursing, cleansing, resting, and even dreaming. Performance and photo documentary activities took place within the space of such a sauna in northern Lapland, specifically a wooden-heated sauna in the Keropirtti, a large log cabin that was built in the 1950s near Pyhä Tunturi (Holy Peak). Satu Miettinen was attracted to the soft light and ambience that enabled her to capture a specific photographic quality based on contrasts created by the warm light of the fireplace. Artist-researchers Heidi Pietarinen and Melanie Sarantou executed the performance while wearing garments that may (not) be considered fashionable. One garment was created by Sarantou partly from recycled materials such as silver foil from commercial water bladders and white tulle.

Satu Miettinen ja Taina Kontio:  Naisten tiloja – Women’s spaces Gallery Hämärä 12.4.–28.4.2022

Related research: Sarantou, M., Miettinen, S., & Pietarinen, H. (2021). Documenting Sauna Stories: Naked Narratives on Fashion and Culture. In R. Vella, & M. Sarantou (Eds.), Documents of Socially Engaged Art (pp. 76-91). International Society for Education Through Art (InSEA).