In the aftermath of the Finnish Civil War, many prisoners of the Suomenlinna Prison Camp (1918–1919) were kept in the very rooms that are now used as an art gallery. At worst, only 0,8 square metres was the amount of space each prisoner was allotted while being confined in the Gallery Augusta’s building. 158 people are needed to make this scarce space visible and tangible by filling one of the gallery’s rooms.

This public event will be video-documented and edited into a video piece, along with interviews of the foreign immigrants living in Finland conveying contemporary experiences of imprisonment for political reasons in their home countries. The video will be displayed at Gallery Augusta as part of the HIAP summer exhibition that opens on June 19th 2012.

Kristina Norman (b. 1979) is an Estonian artist and documentary filmmaker. In her work she often explores the issues of collective memory. Norman’s work is known to the Finnish public by her piece After-War in the collection of KIASMA Museum of Contemporary Art that deconstructs the Bronze Soldier monument case in Tallinn.

Kristina Norman is in production residency at HIAP in the frame of the Paths Crossing project which has been funded with the support of the Culture Programme of the European Commission.

REGISTER AND PARTICIPATE

Gallery Augusta is located on Susisaari island, Suomenlinna.

The shooting of the video starts at 14:45 sharp and will take around 30 minutes.

You can come earlier and spend some time with other participants, watching a special film programme in the gallery. The programme starts at 13:30.

Take your whole family along, your kids are also welcome.

You may bring some food for picnic with you, hot drinks will be provided.

Take your photo camera with you, and collect your own images of the event!

Ferries to Suomenlinna leave from Market Square at 13:00, 13:15, 13:30, 13:55 and 14:15.

Register by sending an e-mail to 0.8m2@hiap.fi or by calling Ulla Linnanvuo 045 876 6504. Your e-mail or phone call will be considered as confirmation that you agree to be filmed for the artist’s video.

Please spread this invitation to anyone you think might be interested in participating in the project.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Kristina Norman has interviewed for her project a number of immigrants to Finland who have described their personal experience of imprisonment in their countries of origin. The artist seeks to make a connection between the contemporary, personal experience of imprisonment for political reasons with that of the political prisoners’ held at Suomenlinna in the early 20th century.

Kristina works with the notion of imprisonment as a bodily and emotional experience. As a result of the research she conducted in the historical record, she calculates the amount of space each prisoner had while confined in the former prison building as having been 0.8 square metres.

The building that houses the garrison barracks was originally constructed to accommodate 450 troops. During the Finnish Civil War, 1747 people were kept in the building. Here is the calculation:

1747 people in 11 rooms

158 people per each room

Measurements of a room 6.55 m x 19.55 m

0,8 square metres per person