Public Art Workshop

 

Explore public art in Helsinki, meet artists who make it, and collaboratively create a public artwork made from the perspectives and terms of visually impaired individuals.

 

Schedule

 

9 April – 31 December 2024, on varying days from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

 

Location

 

Cultural Services for the Visually Impaired (Näkövammaisten kulttuuripalvelu ry), Iiris Centre, Marjaniementie 74, Helsinki (Itäkeskus), and various public art sites in Helsinki.

 

How to Reach Iris Centre: https://www.iiris.fi/fi/saapuminen 

 

 

Public Art Workshop

Are you interested in exploring public art in Helsinki, meeting the artists who create it, or making public art yourself?

 

In the workshop, we will go together to different parts of Helsinki to explore public art. We will meet and discuss with artists who create public artworks. Inspired by these visits and interactions, we will collectively reflect on what public art could be like from the perspective and on the terms of visually impaired people? Based on the generated ideas, we will design and create a collective public artwork for the urban environment of Helsinki. The art work will be designed on August to September and published in September 2024.

 

The workshop and materials used are free of charge. Visits to public art sites will be audio described. The workshop is conducted in Finnish, but interpretation and participation in English are possible. You do not need previous experience in public art to participate in the workshop — just be curious and open to new approaches. You can participate in the entire workshop or in parts that suit you. If you are interested,

 

If you are interested, welcome to the first meeting of the workshop on Thursday, 4 April 2024, at 5 pm at the premises of Cultural Services for the Visually Impaired Association (Näkövammaisten kulttuuripalvelu ry), where we will discuss the workshop’s contents in more detail and address the participants’ wishes.

 

Workshop Host

 

The workshop will be facilitated by visual artist JP Kaljonen(MFA), who is visually impaired himself. Partly due to his visual impairment, his artistic production has focused on various community art and public space projects, where instead of focusing on visuality, the emphasis is on collaboration and promoting the goals of different communities through art. The workshop is part of Kaljonen’s Transcending Sight project, which was inspired by the challenges he faced in an art world that often operates on sighted terms. The project promotes visual arts practices from the perspective and on the terms of visually impaired people. 

 

How to Register?

 

You can register for the workshop using the “register” button on this page, emailing osallistun@kulttuuripalvelu.fi, or simply by attending the first workshop. The workshop facilitator will meet you at the front door of Iiris Centre on Tuesday, April 9 at 4:50 pm.

 

Collaborators & Supporters

  

The workshop is organised in collaboration with the Cultural Services for the Visually Impaired(Näkövammaisten kulttuuripalvelu ry), and is kindly supported by the Finnish Cultural Foundation / Aino Hausmann Fund.