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photographing, and painting. The dialogue in this context in-dicates the skill of being present, which may be more than can be expressed by spoken language and words. The artists of the Mitä kuuluu - Kak dela? (How are you?) community art pro-ject talk about respecting common values and the sensitivity that is required when working with different groups of people (Paavilainen, Siirtola 2010, 25). We all can relate to this.
The main form of activity in this project has included work-ing together with the youth in a dialogue. We do not see diver-sity as a threat but as an opportunity to learn to understand things from a broader perspective than when working from within own sheltered worlds.
FROM ENCOUNTERS TO DIALOGUE
During the past three years, we have found that the Art Reflects project has supported the youth in settling in to their new home country. The activity has strengthened the youths’ self-esteem and means of expression. In the art workshops, it is possible to watch, observe, experience, and work together which increases
understanding between people. Based on the feedback from the youth, socializing and the possibility to gain new friends is considered important. Based on the feedback from the teach-ers and collaborating partnteach-ers, activity also contributes to lan-guage learning and supplements the official adjustment chan-nels offered by society. The Art Reflects project has been under constant evaluation since the beginning. The youth’s feedback and the intra-group reflection on how the activity is going have been the most important.
When evaluating social and interactive art, attention must be paid to the working process and it must be examined from an ethical point of view. Many things can be criticized, such as whether the forms of cooperation are good or bad, how the artist and community or individuals adapt to the art project, whether they hinder or benefit from each other, and whether the members of the community are seen as full actors. (Bishop 2006, 179-180.) Working in a team has affected the evaluation process of the project. Joint discussions have been the basis for the project’s development, and for creating more interactive ways to work within the project. Our approaches have not al-ways been correct or effective, but our project has moved for-ward through trial and error. Some youth have been involved in the project for several years; they have grown up with us and have learned to demand more.
Art Reflects is a social art project, which involves artists, in-structors and youth and which we analyze primarily as art. In connection with the Art Reflects project, one could talk about dialogic artists. The term refers to the artists’ identity as a talk-ing as well as a listentalk-ing actor and it becomes tangible when the artist learns from the interaction with others and otherness.
(Kester 2004, 118.) In our project, art is a discussion, a collabo-ration, and above all, a presence.
Although all groups in the project are supervised by various art professionals, the artists are the ‘other adults’ to the youth.
The youth talk, ask questions, and laugh with us. In all the workshops, we have also tried to make the workshops commit to the artistic process where its completion and, eventually, the
Kaisa Luukkonen’s exhibit and workshop in Gallery Napa 2010. Photo: Ninni Korkalo COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
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The camera obscura workshop in Ounasvaara school 2013. Photo: Ninni Korkalo
presentation of the process are important. The fact that one can be proud of the result strengthens the youth’s self-esteem and supports a sense of community. In addition, the result takes the discussion, that takes place during the process, to a new level when the work is in dialogue with an external audience. (Hil-tunen 2009, 260.)
In three years, our project has become more dialogic and in-teractive in nature. It has been made possible by the artists’ and youth’s commitment to the project. With time, the project has become more target-oriented and has a more regular purpose.
Also the critical approach, the need to define the artistic and the social meaning of the project, and the role of the artists have increased. We also recognize how important it is to maintain a dialogue and to listen to the various parties involved in the various stages of the process. (Kantonen 2005, 263.) Our team sees the possibilities of art as dynamic, but the challenge is to
harness this dynamic in the best way. Should the level of activity be increased, maintained, or even reduced?
We are therefore facing challenges. How can we develop the project further, when the project is already successful? Making dialogue and interaction possible in and by art can be consid-ered the main achievement of the project. The means by which the project could be institutionalized as part of an integration program for young immigrants in cooperation with the culture field, school system of the town, and youth services without shrinking it to be a seemingly ineffective social service Band-Aid as it grows and gets repeated has become an important is-sue. However, we believe that as long as the people involved in the project are committed to and critical of their work, we can avoid the threats of a superficial art project.
Translation: Laura Heikkola
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HANNA LEVONEN-KANTOMAA
graduated in Art education (M.A.) in 1999 and has worked as an art teacher for almost 15 years. In addition to visual arts, Hanna is interested in interdiscipli-nary work that emphasizes process, communality, and particularly the interac-tion with the viewer, something that often remains distant in tradiinterac-tional visual art. During 2000-2007 the annual Rajataidekoulu (Art School Rajataide) event organized in Gallery Rajatila in Tampere became very important to the artist.
After moving to Rovaniemi in the winter of 2007, she has taken the time to get to know the possibilities of working as an art teacher and a visual artist offered by the city and also by northern Finland at the intersection of institutions. Cur-rently, Hanna works as a part-time teacher at the Lyseonpuisto High School and at the Rovaniemi School of Visual Arts. In addition, she works as the coordina-tor of the Art Reflects project. Hanna is also an active member of the Multiart Association Piste and the Northern Media Culture Association Magneetti.
NINNI KORKALO
graduated in visual arts from the Saimaa University of Applied Sciences (former South-Karelian Polytechnic) in 2008. She uses a multitude of different media in her art: drawing, installations and multimedia. Socially active art and interart projects are an important part of Korkalo’s artistic career. She works alone and in groups, and many of the works of art are made in cooperation with her hus-band, visual artist Tuomas Korkalo. Learning new things and interaction best describe Korkalo’s way of making art. Korkalo is working on her Master of Arts degree in Applied Visual Arts at the University of Lapland. Korkalo is active with several local art organizations; she serves as the secretary and a member of the board of the Artists’ Association of Lapland and is a member of the board of the Northern Media Culture Association Magneetti.
ENDNOTES
1During the first year, the team consisted of visual artists Ninni Korkalo and Henri Hagman, as well as art teacher Hanna Levonen-Kantomaa who also coordinates the project. In addition, the team included art education students Anu Vaara and Seija Ratilainen who, among other things, carried out field
practice and project studies in the project.
2Dance artist Marjo Selin, art teacher Mari Matinniemi, visual artists Ninni and Tuomas Korkalo, as well as art teacher Hanna Levonen-Kantomaa acted as the workshop instructors.
3During the past year, visual artists Ninni and Tuomas Korkalo, circus instruc-tor Mette Ylikorva, drama instrucinstruc-tor Johanna Salo, as well as art teacher Hanna Levonen-Kantomaa acted as the workshop instructors.
4We had previous knowledge of similar form of activity taking place in a gal-lery, for example, the Art School Rajataide event organized in Gallery Rajatila.
(Levonen-Kantomaa 2011, 35)
REFERENCES
Bourriaud, N. 2002. Relational Aesthetics. (trans. Simon Pleasance&Fronza Woods). Dijon: Les Presses du Reel
Bishop, C. 2004. Antagonism and Relational Aesthetics. OCTOBER 110. Fall 2004. s. 51–79. October Magazine. Massachusetts (USA): Massachusetts Insti-tute of Technology. Saatavilla < http://www.marginalutility.org/wp-content/
uploads/2010/07/Claire-Bishop_Antagonism-and-Relational-Aesthetics.pdf
> [Retrieved 5.4.2012]
Hiltunen, M. 2009. Yhteisöllinen taide. Performatiivisesti pohjoisen sosiokulttu-urisissa ympäristöissä. Tampere: Juvenes Print..
Kantonen, L. 2005. Teltta. Kohtaamisia nuorten taidetyöpajoissa. Otavan kirja-painotalo oy (Like). Keuruu.
Kester, G.H. 2004. Conversation Pieces. Community + Communication in Mod-ern Art. Los Angeles and London: Berkeley, University of California Press.
Levonen-Kantomaa, H. 2011. Taiteilijakohtaamisia ja taidepajoja Galleria Napassa. ½ - Puolilehti. Helsinki: Vammalan Kirjapaino Oy.
Paavilainen K. & Siirtola A. 2010. Mitä kuuluu? Kak dela? How are you? Hel-sinki: Printing House: Arthouse.
Sederholm, H. 1998. Starting to Play with Arts Education. Jyväskylä University Printing: House.
Sederholm, H. 2000. Tämäkö taidetta? Porvoo: WSOY.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
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his is a travelogue of a community art project that pro-duced a work of art in the yard of the retirement home of the village of Rautiosaari, located along the Kemi River, 18 kilometers south of Rovaniemi. The retire-ment home is a 27-resident nursing unit, where most of the residents suffer from a memory disorder. The project that also examined and developed a participatory approach to art was part of the Ikäehyt (Age-Intact) initiative that aims to support the well-being, life quality, and life management of the elderly people in Lapland.THE JOURNEY BEGINS, CLIMB ABOARD
The journey together began with the residents and staff of the retirement home, the students of the Rautiosaari School, and the villagers living in Rautiosaari. On the way, I myself acted as a guide and played the role of a community artist.
The journey was joyful and it was directed by joy, experi-ence, and success. On this artistic journey, the elderly were given the floor – using art as a tool and well-being as a point of view. This viewpoint was based on numerous studies on the significance of art and culture for a person’s health and well-being and on the promising results obtained from these studies (Liikanen 2003, 150). Developing art activity for ageing people is a burning issue because of the ageing of
the population. According to the Central Statistical Office of Finland (2009), the population of over 65-year-olds will increase by 27% by the year 2040.
The objective of the master’s thesis study in connection with the project has been to develop the residents’ and the students’ common art activity through community art and action research. The action research is a study-strategic ap-proach, which aims to examine, and simultaneously devel-op, people’s social cooperation (Heikkinen 2010, 219-222.) Community art is interactive art where the process of doing is emphasized and the artist creates a work of art in coop-eration with the community. Thus, the interaction itself is more meaningful than the work of art; additionally, impor-tant topics will be discussed through art. Community art is a dialogue of working together. (Kantonen 2005, 46-62.)
With the help of a community art activity, new informa-tion, where the participants’ points of view are formed and changed through cooperation and discussions, is produced.
The elements that affect community art, or the final result of the process, cannot be anticipated in advance. (Seder-holm 2007, 38.) The final result appears to be significant from the point of view of forming a symbolic connection, even if, in community art, process is emphasized. The ready-made, esthetic final result supports the sense of community.