Hannah Hamberg
Leftovers Party
16 September–9 October 2022
The artist is present 2 and 3 October at 12-5pm.
My neighbor Susanna invites me to her tenth birthday party. She thinks that it is polite to bring a gift on which I spend all my savings as I will be the only and special guest at the party. Susanna is my best friend. I go to Tiimari and buy the largest and most expensive bowl I can find. It is shaped like a swan.
I feel important. I sit at the kitchen table and eat the yummy food she offers. My mouth is full of popcorn, chocolate and salty sausage pieces. I feel pleased and give Susanna her gift. To my surprise, she seems disappointed when she tears open the pink wrapping paper and sees the head of the swan. She says that Taina already gave her the same boring chicken at her birthday party yesterday. Emmi, on the other hand, had given her an expensive nail polish and a cool necklace. She starts to wiggle her chubby fingers in front of my face, and I see that her short bitten nails have been painted with dark purple nail polish. The birthday cake is half-eaten. It has melted and the cream dyed with colorful sprinkles is dripping on the plastic-covered tablecloth.
Was the birthday party yesterday? Why was I not invited?
I am an insatiable hunter between the shelves of second-hand stores and flea markets. I find wonderful items. Proudly I fill my studio with worn plastic plates, dirty dolls, broken ornaments, old pearls and buttons – things that speak to me because of their color, material or shape. When I wash an item and smooth its surface, it reveals its character to me. After this, I know what needs to be added or removed. Few people want to carry on as before when change is possible.
At the Leftovers Party exhibition, the collected items form the party food on the table.
Hannah Hamberg (b. 1985) is a Helsinki-based artist. She earned her Master of Fine Arts degree from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2011 and is currently pursuing master’s studies in art education at Aalto University. Hamberg has had solo exhibitions and taken part in several group exhibitions.
The exhibition has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
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