Sasha Huber’s and Petri Saarikko’s Remedies – Rongoã (2016) is installed in Tabakalera, San Sebastián from May 3–31. Tabakalera is an International Centre for Contemporary Culture.
There is a long tradition for various methods for healing – the individual, the collective, society or nature. Artists Huber and Saarikko choreographed this performance or video action during a residency in Wellington, New Zealand, much inspired by the local Maori culture, but also by the imminent threat of nature – earthquake and tsunami – against a city which is located on the very edge of a potential disaster. The participants of the collective performance are also co-authors of the work.
Sasha Huber (b. in 1975 in Zurich) is a visual artist who lives and works in Helsinki, Finland. Questioning her roots, her research focuses on the process of building their personal and artistic identity through media such as video, photography, compressed-air stapling, performance-based interventions and book publishing. Committed artist, she works since several years on the project “Demounting Louis Agassiz” which consist in renaming Mount Agassizhorn whose origin comes from Louis Agassiz (1807-1873), Swiss naturalist who developed racist theories, to rename it in Rentyhorn in tribute to the slave, Renty and of those who met similar fates. She participated in numerous international exhibitions, including the 56th La Biennale di Venezia in 2015.
Petri Saarikko (b. 1973) is Helsinki-based artist and designer. In his site-specific installations, Saarikko combines social commentary with his work as a designer and his background in new media. His work is highly performative in nature. Saarikko does not shy away from provocation. He often challenges ideas of national identity, artistic authorship or official political discourses by changing their context and thus showing the true, artificial nature of these phenomena. His work seeks to expose power relations, to make room for individual narratives, and takes a stand on behalf of equality. Saarikko collaborates regularly with his partner Sasha Huber Saarikko.
Sasha Huber & Petri Saarikko: Remedies – Rongoã in Tabakalera, San Sebastián, Spain, May 3–31 2017
More information: Tabakalera