News
IHME’s amazing year 2021
IHME’s operating year 2021 has been an eventful one – a heartfelt thank you to everyone who joined in our work! In this text, we sum up the past year at IHME, give tips on our most popular interviews and talks, and tell about our spring programme 2022.
IHME commission 2020 and 2021
We were able to put on the first two IHME Helsinki Commissions, for both 2020 and 2021. The first of these works in public space, Jana Winderen’s sound installation Listening Through the Dead Zones staged in August, was postponed for a year due to the corona pandemic. The 2021 Commission, Katie Paterson’s incense work To Burn, Forest, Fire, was carried out according to plan in various parts of Helsinki in September 2021. We got a lot of positive feedback and media attention for both commissions.
Viewpoints on art, science and ecology
IHME’s core activity, alongside producing works of art in public space, is the programme of talks staged during the year. The expert interviews related to Jana Winderen’s IHME Commission 2020 continued on IHME’s website in spring. Find the interviews conducted by Jana Winderen and IHME’s executive director, curator Paula Toppila on the states of the waterways and sound art here.
Tip: Read the most read interview of the series by Finnish fisherman Kai Ilves >>
The Art, Science, Ecology course in the spring was held in collaboration with the Institute of Sustainability of the University of Helsinki and the Academy of Fine Arts of the University of the Arts Helsinki. The lectures of the course were open to all, the workshops were aimed at students of the collaborating universities. The course was conducted by international experts. All the videos of the lectures can be viewed on IHME’s YouTube channel.
Tip: Watch the most streamed lecture of the course by artist, researcher Samir Bhowmik on Media Cultures on Extraction >>
The course was continued in the Art, Science, Ecology podcast series, made in collaboration with Helsinki Open Waves (HOW). Here members of IHME’s Advisory Board discussed issues of art, science and sustainability with invited experts working in art and science. Find the podcast on HOW’s website and on the most popular podcast platforms.
Tip: Start with the most listened episode of the podcast series on sustainable energy and identity by artist, researcher Antti Majava and researchers Emma Hakala and Veli-Pekka Tynkkynen >>
Carbon-neutral art production
IHME Helsinki is committed to monitoring the emissions generated by its operations and is already trying to reduce its own carbon footprint proactively, for instance, when making production-related decisions. The EcoCompass environmental certificate awarded to IHME in the autumn requires reporting of emissions, but also publicizing of environmental solutions.
According to IHME’s Eco-Coordinator’s calculations, emissions from IHME’s operations this year amounted to 12 tonnes of carbon dioxide. (For comparison, the average Finn’s annual carbon footprint is 10.3 tonnes.)
Tip: Read what the IHME’s emissions consist of and how the calculations were made >>
IHME compensates for the carbon footprint it generated this year via Hiilipörssi (Carbon Market). The Hiilipörssi programme focusses on restoring Finnish ditched peatlands by returning ditched marsh environments to a condition corresponding as close to their original state as possible. Peatlands are not only living environments for many species, they also efficiently sequester carbon. The state of waterways and the Baltic Sea made relevant at IHME through Jana Winderen’s work also hinges on the fate of the peatlands, since they efficiently sequester substances that eutrophy waterways.
IHME’s events continue from January
Our new operating year begins with IHME’s Night of Science event at Sofia Helsinki and partly online on January 20, 2022. At the heart of the evening are art, science and the forest. The programme includes To Burn, Forest, Fire incense ceremonies. At this event To Burn, Forest, Fire incense packs and instructions for holding your own ceremony on the International Day of Forests, March 21, 2022, will also be given out free of charge. The topic of the evening’s discussion is the sustainability of Finnish forest management, with member of the Finnish Climate Panel, Professor of Meteorology Timo Vesala. Changes possible.
Tip: Read more about the programme and mark the Night of Science on your calendar >>
IHME Helsinki Commission 2022
IHME Commission 2022, starting in February, is the distinguished Indian artist and filmmaker Amar Kanwar’s 10-week online course Learning from Doubt. The course focuses on questions of art, sustainability and being ecological through Kanwar’s artistic production, while also considering questions of ecologicality and crime in a Finnish context. The free course is open to everyone living in Finland. Kanwar’s films can also be seen at screening in Helsinki later in the spring, this being the first time that Kanwar’s admired films are being shown in Finland.
Tip: Register for the course by Jan 9th, 2022 >>
A warm welcome to IHME’s open and free events to all!
