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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.
HUUTOurists at Sami Artist Center, Karasjok, Norway 15.2. – 9.3.2008
HUUTOurists at Forja Arte, Valencia, Spain, May 21 – June 19 2009
HUUTOurists at Sami Artist Center, Karasjok, Norway 18.9. – 15.10.2008
are Salla Järvinen, Jaakko Rustanius, Katariina Salmijärvi, Elina Strandberg, Heli Änkö
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.”
Jaakko Rustanius
“Why is it that a tourist, travelling around the world, eyes wide open, most often is unable to see much anything, but perhaps their own reflection in a shop window?
Why is it that a tourist is, most often, unable to connect with the environs they tour and with the people they meet?
Is a tourist always a prisoner of their own soul and trapped inside their own mind? What is it like, then, to be a prisoner of one’s own soul, to be trapped in such a way?”
Katariina Salmijärvi
“Tourism is always related with experiences. We want experiences of new places, new views, new people and new cultures. But if we want, we can also decide to observe our own everyday life from a tourist’s viewpoint.
I have prepared the works in the series ‘On the Road’ in cars, buses, trams and trains during my daily travels. I wanted to explore my familiar routes and my own thoughts, I wanted to pause to experience each moment with an open touristic mind within the time available. Each piece of work includes a note on where the piece was made and how long it took to make it.
I have worked on series ‘On the Road’ since 2006. Currently it consists of 49 parts and the process continues.”
Elina Strandberg
“As I travel I usually take some pocket books with me: novels, detective stories, tour guides and nonfiction. It often happens that I lighten my load and leave a used book where it has become useless for me – like many other tourists do, too.
I love to read and at the same time I can conveniently hide behind a book and avoid associating with other passengers or local people.
All our sophisticated sentences, messages of joy and carefully studied research that were left to some vacation centre can one day be found in one of those exotic art shops in my own hometown. Unruly and joyfully split and reorganised.”
Heli Änkö
“The most important thing in travelling is leaving, having the brave to take the risk of opening and stepping into unpredictable and not-knowing. There might arise some turbulence, like with a bird which is struggling for a moment when finding a new, supporting air flow.
I live in an island, a popular touristic site, so I see hundreds of tourists every day. I admire their way of seeing everything with fresh eyes and excitement and the flair of joy of being here and now.”
