Re-Floris @ Galleria Villa Suruton 12 June–16 August 2025

Sound artist and project initiator: Jaakko Autio / Composer: Anna Voutilainen-Veijonen / Performed by Sawotta Choir: Kaisa Björkbacka, Virva Eskelinen, Juha Hilander, Sarianna Joukainen, Erja Leinonen, Suvi Lyytinen, Auli Mikkonen, Hanna Nurmi, Jaakko Örmälä, Anu Pöntinen, Sonja Reinikainen, Touko Raatikainen, Inka Turunen, Tiina Väätäinen, Konsta Veijonen, Ville Heikkinen / Guest vocalists: Kasper Omenasaari and Reetta Karhunen / Saxophone: Anna Voutilainen-Veijonen / Narration: Hilla Väyrynen / Other participating artists in the exhibition: Katariina Lahti, Risto Puutio & Maya Rygaard / Villa Suruton is managed by visual artist Tuomo Kukkonen and interior designer Christian Irjala / Installation Setup: Jaakko Autio / Realized with a 6-month working grant from the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

Re-Floris is a site-specific sound work that is built in dialogue with the space, paintings, and sculptures of the Villa Suruton gallery. The piece invites visitors to experience sound, space, and visual art as an integrated whole, in which each visit becomes a new experience shaped by the space and the moment. In Re-Floris, the polyphonic singing of the Sawotta Choir, the timbre of the saxophone, and the narration guide the listener through the gallery, and the soundscape of the piece is created specifically in the midst of other artists’ works, in internal dialogue with them.

Re-Floris is a site-specific sound work by Jaakko Autio, presented at the Villa Suruton summer exhibition in Savonlinna. The piece is based on the idea of renewed blossoming and the importance of space in the experience of art. The composition is by Anna Voutilainen-Veijonen. The work is performed by the Sawotta Choir, with 20 singers from the Savonia region. Guest vocalists are Kasper Omenasaari and Reetta Karhunen. The saxophone is played by Anna Voutilainen-Veijonen, and the narration is read by Hilla Väyrynen.

The work unfolds throughout the different spaces of the gallery. The downstairs features flower-themed paintings, abstract lines, and various forms of beauty, while the upstairs presents sculptures and watercolors. The sound piece is realized as a 20-channel installation, recorded with binaural microphones. These microphones are shaped like human ears and allow the soundscape to be delivered to the listener in a natural, spatial way via wireless headphones.

Re-Floris is site-specific: it is born and shaped precisely in and for this gallery, through the interaction of space, art, and sound. The Reditus choral work serves as the foundation, but Re-Floris emphasizes the theme of reblooming. The narration guides visitors from one space to another, prompting them to observe their environment and encounter both the art and themselves. The experience concludes on the balcony, where binaural night recordings blend with the real soundscape of the gallery space.

The work invites the visitor to experience the world and art from a new perspective. The idea is that everyone can be part of the work—you are the art.

The other participating artists in the exhibition are Katariina Lahti, Risto Puutio, and Maya Rygaard. Villa Suruton is managed by Tuomo Kukkonen and Christian Irjala. The realization was made possible by a working grant from the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.

The RE series explores the importance of space, sound, and community in contemporary art. In 2025, series works are presented at Möhkö Ironworks Museum (Re-Ditus, 1 June–31 August), Gallery Villa Suruton in Savonlinna (Re-Floris, 12 June–16 August), the House of Kinetic Arts (KITA) in Joutsa (Re-Verb, 28 June–31 August), the Lappeenranta Riverside Biennale at Halkosaari Pavilion (Re-Ditus, 5 July–31 August), as well as in the autumn at the Aine Art Museum in Tornio (Re-Verb, 23 August–16 November), MUU Gallery in Helsinki, and Taiteen talo in Turku.