Pixelache Helsinki announced an Open Call titled #Burn____ in Spring 2020. Andrew Gryf Paterson, festival’s co-director, opened up the theme with his ‘Letter fae the Other Side’. We are now writing hopefully from the destination on the other side of the process.
In the open calls, the festival sought contributors and practices that engage with notions of psychological, social and environmental collapse, and how we can survive or recover from these conditions. For example, we were looking for themes of developing resilience, ecological reconstruction and sharing-economies, but we also appreciated less systemic and more personal oriented works. Site-specificity, process and partnership is the feature of this first festival announcement.
The venue Oodi Central Library was proposed and confirmed in February 2020, however it was closed due to the Coronavirus pandemic that Spring for several months. At the time of this announcement the building’s usual services have been closed since late November 2021. While Finnish society has been relatively spared in comparison to other countries, the usual sharing and exchange in public has been stripped back to the minimum, in a way that we could not have anticipated or imagined when the venue was confirmed. We realised already later half of last year that we will need to consider audience engagement in a very different way than first imagined.
While connections and links need to be woven together in the festival coming together, it may be said that interfaces, metamorphoses, decomposition but also recovery connect the pieces curated on the festival programme. There will be activities and events with Oodi as a hub, as detailed below, with limited presence, and in some cases a virtual or physically-spaced one, it will be a full week of festival programme.
The next announcement will focus on the festival radio!
Following a year of Coronavirus pandemic, and tentative re-emergence into society, we promise that connection, community-seeking contact and sense of belonging arises from the selected acts.
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6th-13th June 2021
Pixelache Helsinki Festival: Contributors
Residencies, Performances, Installations, Discussions, Workshops, Presentations, Screenings and Walks
1st Open Call Selection:
Anastasia ARTEMEVA (RU/FI) & Arlene TUCKER (US/TW/FI)
Free Translation Session: Return, Release, Renew, Place On Hold
Participatory Workshop.
Alan BULFIN (IE/FI), Eva BAKKESLETT (NO), Raine AIAVA (US), Pii ANTTILA (FI)
SoS Home Aerobe Conversations - Home Cultured Stories
Correspondence Art Event, Sign up here and receive a gift from the artists by post:
Contribution funded by Taiteen edistämiskeskus (Art Promotion Centre Finland).
Charli CLARK (UK)
We Walk Together: A co-created knowledge platform for sharing environmental knowledge through physical activity
Participatory Guided Walk / Remote Discussion.
Фрукты Врукты (Frukty Vrukty) (RU)
(title TBC)
Installation / Remote discussion (Po Russki, in Russian with English translation).
Max HAARICH (DE)
Embassy of the Republic of Užupis, Munich
Installation / Residency,
Contribution funded by Goethe Institut Finnland.
Margaretha HAUGHWOUT (US), efrén CRUZ CORTÉS & Suzanne HUSKY (FR/US)
Coven Intelligence Program STAKES: Witch/Plant/Machine Chronicles I-III
Installation,
Contribution funded by Colgate University, NY, USA.
Dasha ILINA (RU/FR)
Center for Technological Pain
Installation / Participatory workshop / Residency.
Merle KARP aka Folded Visuals (EE/FI)
Nature as Magic
VJ Performance,
Contribution funded by Suvi-säätiö (Finnish-Estonian Cultural Foundation).
Martha KICSINY (HU)
The Operative Gaze
Screening / Remote presentation & discussion.
Iivo KORHONEN (FI)
Magic Muscle Moments
Screening.
Mohamed Sleiman LABAT (WS/AL) & Pekka NISKANEN (FI/FR)
Nomadic Seeds
Screening / Remote Discussion,
Contribution funded by Koneen Säätiö (Kone Foundation), Taiteen edistämiskeskus (Art Promotion Centre Finland), Oskar Öflunds Stiftelse, Saastamoisen Säätiö and Perpetuum Mobile.
LABOR NEUNZEHN (DE)
All Sources are Broken Post-Digital
Reading group / Participatory remote workshop.
Albert LAINE (FI)
Virtually Yours
VR / AR Performance,
Contribution funded by Taiteen edistämiskeskus (Art Promotion Centre Finland).
Pihla LEHTINEN (FI)
Only Moment Left
Participatory remote workshop.
Jonna LEHTO (FI), Bráulio BANDEIRA (PT/DE), Moa LARSDOTTER PERSSON (DK) & Sofia PALILLO (FI)
Animal Being
Performance,
Contribution funded by Taiteen edistämiskeskus (Art Promotion Centre Finland) & Helsingin kaupunki.
Tyler LIU (TW/FI)
Ideological war of GAN
Screen exhibit.
Contribution funded by the National Culture and Arts Foundation (NCAF), Taiwan.
Eva MACALI (IT)
XLTHLX
Installation / Remote Presentation,
Contribution funded by Istituto Italiano Di Cultura Helsinki.
MANDARINA COLLECTIVE (ES,PT,DE/FI)
The Rain Theatre
Installation / Performance.
MAX (IL)
PA1N MAP/T0TAL R3CALL
Screening / Remote presentation & discussion.
Peter MORGAN (IE)
No One Is Too Small To Make a Difference
Books / Remote Presentation.
Anna MU (RU/FI)
#BurnEcocide
Screen exhibit.
Ananthakrishnan PILLAI (IN/BE)
The Celluloid Woman
Screening.
Marcus PETZ (UK/FI)
Re-localizing Resilience in the Bioregion
Participatory Discussion.
Anna PRIEDOLA (LV)
The Book of Food workshop – preparing an edible archive of food histories
Remote Workshop.
Leena PUKKI (FI)
Decomposer Syndicate
Installation.
Contribution funded by AVEK Mediataide kohdeapuraha (AVEK media art production grant) to be 1st exhibited in Lappeenranta Art Museum.
Ashwin RAJAN (IN/FI)
Dementia VR
Presentation.
Vishnu Vardhani RAJAN (IN/FI)
Conviviality Complaint Center
Participatory discussion.
Tivon RICE (US)
Models for Environmental Literacy
Screening / Remote presentation & discussion.
Sylvain SOUKLAYE (FR/US)
Liquid Soul
Remote Performance.
Babacar TRAORE (SN)
Trésor Retrouvé
Remote presentation & discussion.
Justin TYLER TATE (CA/TW)
hACKathon
Radio play.
Leda VANEVA (BG/FI)
Breakerspace
Installation / Participatory Workshop.
Valerie WOLF GANG (SI)
Spacesuit / Vanishing Act: Body, Space, Identity
Screening / Remote presentation & discussion.
Eero YLI-VAKKURI (FI)
Humming Ambient Music
Audio Performance.
Arvid VAN DER RIJT (NL/FI)
Bandoeng-Bandung
Performance. Note: Gained from the 2nd Open call for Audio.
Laura Gustafsson’s Invites:
Terike HAAPOJA (FI) & Pauliina FEODOROFF (FI)
Monenlaisten symbioosien internet
Screening.
Silvia HOSSEINI (FI)
Essayist in residence
Written Essays / Radio discussions.
Kristo MUURIMAA (FI)
Re/covered
Screen exhibit.
Ernest TRUELY (US/FI)
Ernie's Pop Up Spa
Participatory performance & exchange.
Taneli VILJANEN (FI)
Jäljet: Metamorfoosin tapahduttua
Performance.
Andrew Gryf Paterson’s Invites:
Alexandra ELBAKYAN (KZ/RU)
Ковчег Sci-Hub для спасения науки (The Collapse of Science and the Ark of Sci-Hub)
Remote presentation (Po Russki, in Russian with English translation).
Mia MÄKELÄ (FI)
Ihmiskatseen lyhyt oppimäärä (The human gaze)
Presentation (Suomeksi, in Finnish).
Markéta DOLEJŠOVÁ (CZ/FI) & Annukka SVANDA (FI)
B.Y.O.K. (Bring Your Own Kitchen)
Remote kitchen sessions online.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 870759.
Leda VANEVA (BG/FI), Ranjit MENON (IN/FI), Dorota ORLOF (PL/FI) and Krisjanis RIJNIEKS (LV/FI)
Konch
A multipurpose object enabling discussion or relaxation in the Covid-19 situation.
Pixelache Programme 2020 contributions:
Karolina GINMAN (FI) & working group
A Human Ensemble - open studio and discussion (film)
Dance documentation.
Sumugan SIVANESAN (AU/DE)
fugitive radio
Installation / workshop,
Contribution funded by Koneen Säätio (Kone Foundation).
Partner contributions:
Pixelache Festival has had regular association partnerships over the years, contributing to the festival programme with their own curatorial choices, production team and resources. This year we have the pleasure to share the occasion with the following partner contributions:
BIOART SOCIETY (FI) contributes BioFutures
Participatory workshop / Presentation. Sign up now via link!
Remotely conducted by Tina AUER & Tim BOYKETT (AT) of Time's Up and locally hosted by Christina Stadlbauer (BE) & Noora Sandgren (FI). BioFutures is part of Biofriction, a European collaboration project committed to supporting bioart and biohacking practices. The Biofriction project is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.
M-CULT (FI) contributes Algoffshore
Radio performance by RYBN (FR).
Co-produced by RYBN.org and m-cult in context of the EMAP residency programme 2021 with support from the Creative Europe Programme.
VALMED (FI), media art collective based in North Savo region, contributes with a surprise package of audiovisual works.
Screening. This event is a gift exchange between associations.
AALTO FAB LAB (FI), contributes with the konch.info project that was developed as a part for the furnish.tech open call: Fast Urban Responses for New Inclusive Spaces and Habitat.
Outdoor installation.
DIMORA OZ (IT) contributes ARKAD
Remote presentation & discussion.
Supported by the General Direction of Contemporary Creativity of the Italian Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and for Tourism.
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Festival Partnerships & Funding support:
Partners
This year’s Pixelache Festival is centred around the venue of Helsinki City’s Oodi Central Library, and naturally are our main partner in production. We have been in discussion as noted above since February 2020, in particular with Oodi special librarians Tuukka Haapakorpi and Sanna Huttunen.
Finnish partner associations involved in contributing to the programme include: Bioart Society (Helsinki), M-Cult (Helsinki), and Valmed (North Savo).
Confirmed international associations contributing to our programme anticipated as: Dimora OZ (Palermo, IT), Karachi Biennale Trust (PK), Xarxa de Ràdios Comunitàries de Barcelona (Barcelona Community Radio Network, CAT). NB: Others may be added in following weeks as remote contributors.
We acknowledge the audio/radio production partnership with {openradio}, Korppiradio and M-Cult (More will be elaborated in 2nd announcement related to audio/radio contributions).
We acknowledge audiovisual streaming partnership with Aavistus Festival (Helsinki), and Elektron platform by MIM Project (Tallinn, EE), supported by Suomalais-Virolainen-Kulttuurisäätiö (Finnish-Estonian Cultural Foundation).
We have a media partnership with Radio Helsinki and Enostone Kustannus (Helsinki).
We have a ‘quarantine’ accommodation partnership with Architectural Democracy (Lohja).
We are sponsored support in outdoor infrastructure by Kino Rentals.
We have a working relationship with Job’d platform (Helsinki), funded by Helsinki City.
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Main Funding Support
Pixelache programme 2020-2021, including Festival 2021 is produced with support from:
Taiteen edistämiskeskus (Art Promotion Centre Finland) Activity grant: Media art special fund.
Helsingin Kaupunki (Helsinki City) Activity grant.
NB: Particular contributions are funded by particular sources, named above in list.
