The Finnish Institute in Budapest FinnAgora and Blinken OSA Archivum present an audiovisual art exhibition “Darling, Let Me Hold You!” in collaboration with AV-arkki – Centre for Finnish Media Art. The exhibition is open in Centrális Galéria from February 13–18 2024. The exhibition is organised as part of the Finnish Film Days, Finn Filmnapok.
The theme of the exhibition is human connection. We seek connection in our lives, be it with strangers, family, to ourselves or with humanity at large. Creating these connections, upholding them, repairing them, breaking them, and longing for them are in the core of our humanity. With this exhibition we want to show different artists’ interpretations and stories regarding human connection.
The videos and films in the exhibition are:
Hannaleena Hauru: The Ice Hockey Film by Heidi (2017)
Heidi’s fantasy about hockey player Lauri Mäntyvaara is continuously failing. The film studies the encounters of optical and haptic cinema, and the change in the power structures of the cinematic gaze.
Alisa Javits: Glitter Dreams (2018)
Images flowing in the work are like sporadic, recurring mental images with seemingly nothing in common. The work is not about glitter, rather, it is a metaphor. It ponders over trying, daring and things which people choose to have in their lives and to which they can return.
Heta Kuchka: Darling, Let Me Hold You! (1999)
In this humoristic short film a young woman is ironing a men’s shirt and caressing a kitten.
Seppo Renvall & Alli Savolainen: Crocodile Tears (1993)
A common katharsis.
Vappu Rossi: The Marriage (2014)
In a framed double portrait, a couple slowly turns into one another, and then back. The change is gradual, almost imperceptible at first glance.
Niina Suominen: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do (2015)
Video about the destruction of unnecessary objects.
Niina Suominen: Golden Headacher (2022)
Golden Headacher is an experimental animation documentary about women’s hate and aggression and the culturally sanctioned ways to express or suppress these uneasy feelings. The dialogue is constructed from experiences of women dealing with feelings of aggression towards children and spouses and between women. At the same time, the dialogue comments on cultural norms related to the expression of aggression by women. The film was created by animating textile and décor waste and beautiful glossy pictures of children that were popular in Scandinavia in the last century. The material was improvised using the qualities of different fabrics and objects as the basis for the images. The work brings to the fore the irritation and exhaustion felt by women and the thoughts often left unsaid outside the walls of home. Also the remorse and the shame felt after the bursts of anger are reflected on.
Still from: Heta Kuchka: Darling, Let Me Hold You! (1999)
Media Art Exhibition: Darling, Let Me Hold You! February 13–18 2024, Centrális Galéria, Budapest, Hungary
More information: FinnAgora
AV-arkki has promoted and distributed Finnish media art since 1989. AV-arkki’s promotional efforts have made the artists’ participation in this event possible. If you want to hear the latest news from our distribution, subscribe to our newsletter!