Milja Laurila and Hannele Rantala

A room of one's own

When the artists Hannele Rantala and Milja Laurila are making A Room of One’s Own in the museum’s Project Space, they will be creating installations there that deal with limited space, individual autonomy and livelihood, and artistic work.

An artist’s workroom and an exhibition space occupied by the artists parallel each other from the point of view of the work, as essential, concrete, personal spaces. This paralleling is done via texts and images, and assemblages, their mutual interaction being a central element in both Laurila’s and Rantala’s art.

Each artist will make her own works in the space, but the conversations between the artists and the shared working environments have influenced the works.

“The starting point for our exhibition is a book we found on the bookshelf, A Room of One’s Own. The book describes dinners, visits to market, problems getting into a library, giant cucumbers and garden roses; there is a lot of talk about literature and the relationship between books and reality. The book’s narrator is also interested in different spaces and women’s opportunities for making art.”

“We think making art requires peace, light, heat, luck, a chair, a table, a bed, a place to wash, and sufficient peace and quiet, with no one constantly pestering you to make buns.”

Meet the artists on Sunday 4.12. at 2–3 pm. Museum entrance fee.

The exhibition and the artists have been supported by: Kone Foundation / Saari Residence, Arts Council of Finland, Alfred Kordelin Foundation,  The Finnish Artists’ Studio Foundation / Lietsalo project studio, Arts Council of Helsinki Metriopilitan Region and Kivikaiverrus Signum.