Jaakko Autio’s sound installation “On The Border / Rajalla” in World Cities Culture Summit 2022, Helsinki Opera 5-6.10.2022 / Event Producers: Claire Delholm and Laura Arala (City of Helsinki) / The installation is made as collaboration with four choirs: Narva music school girls choir (EE), Narva Estonian language house Tandem choir (EE), Narva museum folk ensemble “Suprjadki” (EE) and Nomad Vocals Choir (FI) / Music composer: Jussi Mattila (Original Maamme laulu/Mu Isamaa by Fredrik Pacius 1847) / Installing helpers: Jaakko Korkalainen, Yaasiin Ali, Abdi Musse & Ranieri Scoccia / Thank you: Olli Haataja

On The Border was a part of World Cities Culture Summit 2022 at Opera House in Helsinki. The installation has two parts: The fist 26 channel sound installation starts on the main entrance of Opera house, the second part of the installation is played in the Opera house Alumni stage through 32 channel sound system.

From 5-7 October, Helsinki will host the World Cities Culture Summit 2022, bringing together delegates from 42 cities to discuss how government policy can address local and global challenges within the culture sector. This year, the summit will coincide with the launch of WCCF’s annual Report on 5 October, which gathers more than 200 case studies demonstrating the resilience of cities during the Covid-19 pandemic and the use of culture as a powerful tool to face profound challenges. Its key message: cultural leaders must collaborate across government departments to collectively adopt a mission-led approach, with people, place and planet at its heart.

Paavo Arhinmäki (Deputy Mayor for Culture and Leisure of the City of Helsinki), and Reetta Heiskanen (City of Helsinki’s Acting Deputy Culture Director) will join Justine Simons OBE (Deputy Mayor for Culture and Creative Industries, Mayor of London’s Office, and Chair of World Cities Culture Forum) in welcoming over 100 deputy mayors, city representatives and cultural leaders to the Helsinki summit.

Through a series of debates and workshops, the delegates will exchange views on urgent issues including post-COVID-19 reconstruction, the preservation and development of creative spaces and new culture funding models. The collaborative spirit of the summit hopes to encourage delegates to share regional challenges and work towards progressive solutions with the advice of the network. Previous summits have led to new initiatives including: ACCESS, a Europe-wide cultural policy network to develop inclusive access within culture and the creative industries; and WCCF’s Leadership Exchange Programme, involving 21 different cities via 11 exchanges, with thanks to Bloomberg Philanthropies and Google Arts and Culture.

Delegates will visit the city’s main cultural institutions and enjoy artistic performances kindly arranged by Helsinki City Council. Summit events will be held in venues including the Finnish National Opera, the Central Library Oodi, Amos Rex, and Lapinlahden Lähde, and performances will feature a specially commissioned work by dancer-choreographer Susanna Leinonen, experimental music by Suistamon Sahko and a keynote speech by conductor Dalia Stasevska.

More information about WCCF http://www.worldcitiescultureforum.com/

On The Border

“On The Border” contemplates the question “Who am i” in a world fragmented by geopolitics. The work was born on the Russian-Estonian border in Narva as a part of my three month residency at NART. Narva is the most Russian city in Europe with 96% of the Russian-speaking population. Although the geographical boundary is clearly drawn on the border between Russia and Estonia, the question of the locals’ own identity is a mixture of both, Estonia and Russia. “On the border” installation, 40 singers are heard singing, breathing and speaking together. The singers are Finns, Estonians and Estonian Russians. There are clusters from the melody of Finland’s and Estonians national anthem “Maamme laulu/Mu Isamaa”, which we share in Finland and in Estonia. The visitor can listen to each singer’s individual voice, breathing and singing separately, or listen to the choir as a whole.

I hope the installation takes people from the realm of time to timeless, where we can momentarily remember how it feels to melt and be together without the polarization of opposite views.

Singers in the installation: Супрядки” на записи 1 мая 2022: Марина Кувайцева / Marina Kuvaitseva Галина Быстрова / Galina Bõstrova Ирина Воробьева /Irina Vorobjova Мария Изюмова / Maria Izjumova Татьяна Климина / Tatjana Klimina Римма Матвеева / Rimma Matvejeva Ольга Сергеева / Olga Sergejeva Елена Юркевич / Jelena Jurkevitš Олег Кашин / Oleg Kašin Степан Пидвысоцкий / Stepan Pidvysotskiy Владимир Чердаков / Vladimir Tšerdakov. Narva music school. Ensemble «Yakub-bend-A».  Participants:  Alissa Milovidova, Valentina Starodubtseva, Evelina Koop, Kristel Treinbuk, Sille Reinsalu, Marija Eroshkina. Teacher Alla Yakubova / Nomad Vocals: Eero Lahtinen, Emma Jämsen, Joel Alve, Joona Rytkönen, Juulia Karppi, Kasper Korhonen, Linda Pennström, Matleena Vuori, Sakari Siira, Tatu Huotarinen, Emma Pitkänen, Lasse Kettunen, Tiina Leskinen, Siiri Lautamies, Anna Voutilainen, Jaakko Örmälä, Heta Ikonen, Tiila Vuori, Eevi Kortelainen, Reetta Karhunen, Ville Hämäläinen & Jutta Korhonen.