IHME Helsinki / Pro Arte Foundation Finland
Kalevankatu 4, 2nd floor
00100 Helsinki, Finland
In the IHME Helsinki 2021 Commission by Scottish artist Katie Paterson entitled To Burn, Forest, Fire, you can experience the scent of the world’s first forest 385 million years ago and the scent of the last forest in the age of the climate crisis. The work is based on the artist’s concern about the world’s sixth extinction. The work will take place as a series of incense burning ceremonies, which will be held in different parts of Helsinki from 1 to 30 September 2021.
IHME Helsinki is deeply concerned about the environmental crisis and dedicates its work to exploring what the transformation towards sustainable artistic and art-institutional practice could be like. IHME Helsinki also supports art, science, and climate-change mitigation. Their main collaborators are contemporary artists who work in dialogue with scientists, researchers and other experts in various knowledge systems to reflect on the focal questions of the artist’s research.
Throughout her artistic career Katie Paterson has worked with scientists – e.g. astronomers, astrophysicists, nanotechnologists, geologists and botanists – in order to learn and to be able to materialize her imaginary ideas.
“Katie Paterson’s work is a stunning example of the power of imagination, how the impossible becomes possible and takes its place in the real world. Her approach mediates the transformative power of art extremely well. We need this approach in the midst of the environmental crisis,” says Paula Toppila, Executive Director and curator of IHME Helsinki.
For more information please visit the website below.
