The 10th edition of Pixelache Helsinki festival features a rich programme of exhibitions, workshops, seminars and presentations which are open for the general public. FREE ENTRANCE * EVERYONE IS WELCOME * NO EXPERT KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED * BRING THE GRANDPARENTS AND KIDS TOO! The workshops and presentations are held in English.

CAMP PIXELACHE PUBLIC PROGRAMME DAY, SAT 12 MARCH 12:00-18:00

Pixelache festival takes place for the first time on Suomenlinna island. The most extensive public programme takes place on Saturday 12 March afternoon.

Camp Pixelache exhibition

The exhibition features 15 new projects, most of which are presented for the audience for the first time. Some of the projects are still under development and are presented as prototypes. The exhibition features for example:

Fungifiction by Tine Tillmanin & Laura Popplow (DE) presents a fictional future vision for the city of Helsinki. Mushroom cultivation has become an important part of everyday life and the 'Mushroom Research Center Helsinki' at Suomenlinna island explains how the breeding of mycelium and mushrooms is a way to save societies and the planet.
The 'Power Flower' by Andy Best and 'Valo-loinen' by Maria Dunckerin & Koelse comment the energy consumption in Helsinki region. Both of these artworks are still work-in-progress and are realised in the context of a collaboration between Pixelache and Helsingin Energia.
The international FoAM group has been working for a number of years on using games to strengthen the connection between plants and people.  The exhibition visitors can draw their own “Plant Spirit” game characters which are added to an experimental game environment - an online virtual garden which is based on the principles of permaculture.
ZOE by Niki Passath (AT) is a swarm of robots. The project is an attempt to create robots which would move in a way that appears to be guided by emotions and social intelligence.
'Fablab' is short for 'fabrication lab', a lab that has a set of tools that enable the manufacturing of more or less complex physical objects from various materials. Fablabs have been set up all over the world over the past couple of years and have a potential of becoming a more flexible and ecological alternative compared to traditional industrial mass production. Camp Pixelache features two fablabs who both have their own special approach: Timelab from Ghent, Belgium and Le Mag/Labin from Paris, France.
These are just examples - the exhibition features many more projects!

Location: Gallery Augusta. Time: The exhibition is open on Saturday 12 March 12:00-18:00 and on Sunday 13 March 14:00-18:00. More information

Audiovisual concert/installation

For Pixelache Helsinki 2011, defunensemble and KOELSE will build an audiovisual experience in which compositions overlap with improvisations, traditional instruments meet electronic noise machines, video projections merge with the soundscape in the space. It is not a concert, not an installation, it is a unique three dimensional experience which you will have to experience yourself. Location: Paarlastihuone. Time: The installation version is on view on Saturday 12 March 12:00-18:00 and on Sunday 13 March 14:00-18:00. A special one hour concert will take place on Saturday 12 March 18:00-19:00, access to the concert only with festival pass (with limited amount of seats!). More information

Presentations and discussions

The programme of presentations and discussions on Saturday 12 March features, amongst others:

Ulla Taipale will present the ‘Expedition to the Baltic Sea’, a cross-disciplinary art project to observe and experience the natural phenomena of the Baltic Sea. Expedition works are realised through collaboration between artists, scientists and different cultural agencies and will be exhibited as part of the European Capital of Culture Turku2011 programme. Presentation on the 1st floor of Chapman building, 14:00-15:00
Christian Nold will talk about the initial plans for this new artwork which is going to be realised on Suomenlinna island during years 2011 & 2012. The artwork will be a kind of communal 'toolkit' for the inhabitants and visitors of the island. Christian's previous projects include Biljmer Euro (a local currency for a suburb of Amsterdam) and 'emotion maps' ofa various cities (Brentford Biopsy. East Paris Emotion Map, etc). Presentation on the 1st floor of Chapman building, 15:00-16:00

Locations: Cafe Chapman building + Art school MAA + Pajasali. Time: Saturday 12 March 12:00-18:00. A large part of the presentation programme on Saturday 12 March is confirmed in the morning, when the Camp Pixelache events starts. All Pixelache participants can propose a topic for a presentation or a discussion (this open event format is an adaptation of 'BarCamp' format).  Schedule and more information

HIAP open studios

WORKSHOPS

These workshops do not require any special knowledge or skills - a curious mind is enough!

Temporary Photoelectric Digestopians Worklab

A worklab where light energy is transformed into electric energy with food. Based on photovoltaic (solar) and culinary technologies and designs, the participants will experiment with mostly plant based edible materials creating ‘e-sandwiches/sushi’s’ that transform light into electricity. Aesthetics and tastes will be tested and appreciated on heliotropic tickling tongues. Location: Pajasali. Time: Thursday 10 March 9:30-18:00. You have to sign up to the workshop in advance! More information

Seedballing workshop

Seed Balling – is a natural farming technique, developed by Masanobu Fukuoka, which contains plant potential for an entire ecosystem. Its easy and fun method to learn about plants and our environment. During the seedballing workshop at Pixelache, we will look at the local edible plants and its importance for the locale or urban environments. We will learn how to create clay balls by using water, clay, compost and preselected seeds, which will be based on Chokeberries (Aronia Melanocarpa) companion planting. Location: Pajasali. Time: Friday 11 March 9:30-18:00. More information Temporary Photoelectric Digestopians and Seedballing workshops both belong to Groworld Bazaar programme of Pixelache Helsinki 2011, devised by members of FoAM collective. More information

OTHER WORKSHOPS

Pixelache Helsinki features also many other pre-festival workshops: check out the full list.

EXHIBITIONS

In addition to the activities on Suomenlinna island, Pixelache features two exhibitions in Helsinki centre:

Jean Katambayi Mukendi: Simulen & Ecoson / Myymälä2 Gallery

The 4th edition of Signals from the South - programme dedicated to art, media and technology projects from South America, Africa and Asia -  features an exhibition by Jean Katambayi Mukendi (R.D. Congo), a self-taught artist and scientist, who has a passion for logic, mechanics, geometry and above all electricity. The exhibition presents ‘Simulen’ and ‘Ecoson’, two of his latest works, fragile and complex conceptual installations. Simulen addresses the daily reality of power cuts in Congo and the rest of Africa, and is the prototype of a tool that would perhaps be the first one, to both visualise this phenomenon and teach common people how electricity works to protect them. Ecoson is an artistic and electrical representation of the relationships between nature and technology within our global ecosystem. Location: Myymälä2 Gallery. Time: 9- 20 March / Wed-Sat 12:00-18:00 / Sun 12:00-17:00. Opening on Wednesday 9 March 18:00-20:00. More information

Computational Photography: Return of the Unexpected / MUU Gallery

The exhibition features four artworks that each have their own approach to challenging photographic conventions. The subtitle of the exhibition - 'Return of the Unexpected' - states that unlike in mainstream digital photography the results of algorithmic manipulation of camera data are often to some extent unpredictable, a reminiscence from the time of analog photography and an aspect that invites to artistic experimentation. What results is an interplay between artist and the medium, and oftentimes with an interactive format of presentation, that between audience and the artwork. The featured artworks are: Ben Bogart (CA): Self-Organized Landscape Andreas Schmelas & Stefan Stubbe (DE): Artificial Smile Wolfgang Bittner (AT) & Stijn Belle (NL): Portraits of a Machine Frederic Gmeiner & Torsten Posselt & Benjamin Maus (DE): Extracts of Local Distance Location: MUU Gallery. Time: 11-27 March / Tue-Fri 12:00-17:00 / Sat-Sun 12:00-16:00. Opening on Friday 11 March 18:00-20:00. The artist will talk about their work in the Computational Photography seminar on Friday 11 March, 14:00-17:00 (1st floor of Cafe Chapman building, Suomenlinna). More information

...AND MUCH MORE!!

Other Pixelache Helsinki 2011 events open for the general public include:

Cultural critic Brian Holmes will give a lecture as a part of HIAP talks in Pajasali, Suomenlinna on Thursday 10 March 18:00-20:00 www.hiap.fi
Map me if you will seminar on Friday 11 March is a series of interconnected talks and discussions on the cultural and political dimensions of mapping and data collection/visualisation. Speakers include Brian Holmes (FR/US), Christian Nold (UK), Baruch Gottlieb (CA/DE), Graham Harwood (UK), Kari A. Hintikka (FI), Wouter Van den Broeck (BE), Alessandro Ludovico (IT) and many others. More information