ARTE=RANKKA (2016)
We Be Quiet About This /// ARTE = RANKKA
2 April – 15 May 2016
Gallery Rankka, Helsinki
Artists: Henna Aho, Frank Brümmel, Tomi & Mikko Dufva, Juha Allan Ekholm, Toni Hautamäki, Jouna Karsi, Sirkku Ketola, Jessica Koivistoinen, Riina Palmqvist, Ville Vuorenmaa, You People Crew (Hans-Peter Schütt, Janne Siltanen, Antti Männynväli)
Curator: Ville Laaksonen
Project description:
Status quo? Is it something edible — or an old record spinning on repeat, with a B-side obscure enough to make one feel culturally “in”?
ARTE = RANKKA (“Tästä ollaan hiljaa”) challenged Arte ry, Turku’s long-standing contemporary art association, to present an exhibition that captured its distinctive and rebellious spirit. Founded in 1960, Arte has been a pioneering force in Finnish contemporary art — a platform where new forms are tested, conventions are questioned, and artistic definitions are continually reshaped. Its membership spans a wide range of practices, from intersections of art and science to avant-garde sound and performance, without excluding traditional mediums.
The spirit of Arte, rather than its definition, became the guiding principle. Through the works of eleven artists, the exhibition presented both social and personal statements — fractures in the surface of reality — questioning whether art’s ultimate form is a consumable experience or a product of resistance. Politically charged yet deliberately unbranded, the exhibition refused to simplify its message into slogans.
If Helsinki is a bubble, We Be Quiet About This asked whether looking through that distorted lens might reveal something more authentic — something more Turku-like.
Background:
Arte ry is a Turku-based artists’ association founded in 1960. Its mission is to promote high-quality contemporary art in the Turku region and to facilitate collaboration among professional artists on local, national, and international levels. The association runs Titanik Gallery and the Titanik A.i.R. sound art residency.