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Tourism ”travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from within the place visited.”
During 2008 Galleria Huuto visited Sami Artist Center in Káráshjohka with two exhibitions, in February and September. In May 2009 the project continued to the Gallery Forja Arte in Valencia, Spain.
Galleria Huuto’s visits in Lapland and Spain – the traditional holiday destinations of Finnish tourists – are entitled under HUUTOurism.
The exhibitions has been supported by The Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Foundation, Letterstedtska föreningen, FRAME Finnish Fund for Art Exchange, Arts Council of Finland and the Alfred Kordelin Foundation.
HUUTOurism at Sami Artist Center, Karasjok, Norway 15.2. – 9.3.2008
HUUTOurism at Sami Artist Center, Karasjok, Norway 18.9. – 15.10.2008
HUUTOurists at Forja Arte, Valencia, Spain, May 21 – June 19 2009
are Salla Järvinen, Tanja Koistila, Niina Lehtonen-Braun, Marjo Levlin, Katariina Salmijärvi, Elina Strandberg, Heli Änkö, Charlotta Östlund
Salla Järvinen
”Travelling in foreign countries sharpens up all the senses. Among foreign people, experiencing life through new language and culture brings up new characters of oneself. Standing in the empty, fresh space gives a wider view to one’s own life.”
Tanja Koistila
”A couple in a packet trip are confused in new surroundings. Do they want to be outsiders or would they be curious to take part.”
Niina Lehtonen-Braun
”The work ”Postcards” consists of five short video-postcards, made in Lapland, Vienna, Bavaria, Berlin and Helsinki, and of paper postcards, that have been repainted and reworked.
They are little greetings from my trips and from my everyday life.”
www.niina-lehtonen-braun.com/NLB/Liebegrüsse.html
Marjo Levlin
“Last year I found some old tourist badges from my childhood and I remembered my teenage dreams about travelling all around the world. I got the idea to make a dress of these dreams and at the same time a dress of power. ”National Dress” includes the dilemma of the world today with possibilities of fulfilling dreams and yet being conscious about the consequences our acts of freedom may have.
Most of the badges and streamers in these dresses are souvenirs of strangers, bought from flea markets in Finland. I often escape to these markets to search for surprises, making trips that are cheap and enjoyable.
“National Dress” was inspired by Sami culture and the village Karasjok in Norway and “Female Tourist Uniform” by Spain.”
Katariina Salmijärvi
”I haven’t bought any souvenirs ever.
Instead
I have taken many kilograms stones from some country to another,
I have collected dog waste bags from the Czech Republic,
I have bought several toy dogs because of missing my own dog at home.”
Elina Strandberg
“I like to get to know new places by walking.
Just walking, looking around, listening strange language and enjoying the local way of living.
Often without a map, sometimes with a map.”
Heli Änkö
“When I was a child, my father used to travel abroad a lot for his work. Every time he got back home, he would give me a doll as a souvenir. I liked those dolls very much.
Just by staying at home, I would create images of the places the dolls came from. So for me, the souvenir doll would present an image of the whole nation and it’s people. From the size, whether I considered it sympathic or not, etc, I would gather information and create an image of the whole nation.
In this series of pictures, I decided to give my early presumptions and thoughtforms a holiday.”
Charlotta Östlund
“My “November-dreams”-series consists of transformed objects from my home, telling about day-dreams of an other place or time.”
