Artists residency and exhibition in Myymälä2 Helsinki

Dare to Care members are going to Helsinki for a residency about artists' mental health.

The international art collective Dare to Care is coming to Helsinki with an unreleased exhibition about mental health and the Arts, accompanied by workshops and performances. During a week-long residency at Myymälä2 Gallery artists Ania Duldiier, Miriam Poletti and Cami Ruohonen will investigate the complex relationship between emotions, body and nature. Dramaturg Kristýna Ilek will offer a participatory performance to explore the difficulties faced by art practitioners.

Using macro images of the skin of their body, Poletti is creating sculpture-pillows. Through a workshop, they invite local artists to collectively explore the correlation between the mind, mental stress and the body, to create an object that reflects their unexpected connections. The work will be displayed in the end-of-residency exhibition.

Duldiier’s performance ‘Rebirth‘ explores identity, culture shock, and adaptation as well as ways in which artists seek to establish connections and build relationships with new realities. She uses soil and moss as connection to the earth and the natural world, representing the process of rebirth, renewal, and transformation that occur when one immerses themselves in a new culture.

Ruohonen’s series of paintings ‘Healing, touch and nature‘ investigates mindfulness and nature through the journey from darkness to light: suffering, dealing, seeking, healing. Before starting therapy, clear sky and greenery always helped her with anxiety and depression. Her abstract paintings ‘Distilled memories‘ are inspired by her skin’s recollection of nature.

Ilek is presenting two iterations of autobiographical participatory performance ‘I’m not a therapist, can we still talk about feelings?’ with a small group of local artists. While sharing her experiences with mental health problems in her artistic career, she encourages the audience to explore theirs. Participatory performance allows open and safe dialogue about this complex issue.

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Further information on the workshops and the residency programme will be announced on the Myymälä2 Gallery website and on our channels.

Project management, production, communication and curation by Kristýna Ilek, Mathilde Palenius, Elena Righini. Graphic design by Miriam Poletti and Cami Ruohonen.

The project is supported by Culture Moves Europe, funded by the European Union and implemented by the Goethe-Institut, and TelepART Mobility Support, run by the Finnish Cultural and Research Institutes.

Disclaimer: This work was produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Union.