Nastja Säde Rönkkö’s multi-channel installation Those Who Kept the Light is included in the Panorama / Formfragen section of International Women’s Film Fest Dortmund+Cologne, held in Cologne from April 16–21 2024. The series will be installed in Filmhaus Köln during the festival. An artist talk with Nastja Säde Rönkkö will take place on Sunday, April 21 2024, from 16:00.

Those Who Kept the Light is a series by Nastja Säde Rönkkö that focuses on the sea and related myths and stories. It was previously shown as an exhibition in Rønnebæksholm’s expansive Barn and curated in collaboration with Aura Seikkula and Rønnebæksholm. Currently, it is on view in Seinäjoki Kunsthalle, in Finland, and it will open in June in Turku Art Museum, Finland, as a single-channel version.

The artist was writing poetic texts during her travels in Denmark and Norway between 2020 and 2021. She discovered stories and legends about women who took care of the light in the lighthouses. Often they were family members of the actual, male lighthouse keepers: wives, sisters, daughters who performed the task on behalf of the lighthouse keeper. The scripts and stories in which women play a powerful and unusual role feed off each other and are featured in the exhibition in the form of ten videos.

The video works are based on the idea of love or affection that transcends the boundaries set for ways of loving. In the videos, love appears as between people, but also between humans and other species. Wind and sea have awareness, emotions and a voice of their own.

The theme of the exhibition is also related to the climate crisis and the destruction of sensitive ecosystems in the oceans. Love for the sea can be seen as a longing for a space where people have a life-sustaining connection to the environment they live in. The exhibition explores the meaning of vulnerability, desire and memory through myths and open-ended narratives. It brings out the power of longing and imagination that unites people. Through barren northern seascapes, the exhibition progresses to places of comfort, empowerment and emotion.

International Women’s Film Fest Dortmund+Cologne, April 16–21 2024, Cologne, Germany

More information: IFFF Dortmund + Köln

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!