Nordenskiöldinkatu 5 C 69
00250 Helsinki
Finland
- Arts
- Democracy and community development
- Human rights
- International/Cultural relations
- Research
Perpetuum Mobilε, co-founded by Marita Muukkonen and Ivor Stodolsky in 2007, is a curatorial vehicle which brings together art, practice and enquiry. It acts as a conduit and engine to re-imagine certain basic historical, theoretical as well as practical paradigms in fields which often exist in disparate institutional frames and territories.
Perpetuum Mobilε develops longer-term thematic projects which come to include conferences, workshops, residencies, small and large exhibition formats, public and street art, publications, films and much more.
Thematic Projects:
The Aleksanteri Cultural Fora
The first umbrella-project was the Aleksanteri Cultural Fora which wedded an international conference on Perestoika at the Aleksanteri Insitute of the University of Helsinki with a multi-part exhibition at Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, Helsinki (The Raw, The Cooked and The Packaged – The Archive of Perestroika Art, 2007-2008), a series of film at the national film archive and publications including FRAMEWORK (No. 8 In Need of Openess / Paths Not Taken). See documentation of the “Perestroika process” at our old website:
https://perpetualmobile.wordpress.com/exhibitions/
The Re-Aligned Project
In progress for over three years, this large-scale project has had iterations and events in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Egypt, Palestine, Finland, Germany, Sweden and Norway. Forthcoming events are scheduled for the UK. PM's large-scale two-part "To the Square" project (in Forum Box and one of Helsinki's central squares) had a special focus on art from Egypt and Palestine.
www.re-aligned.net
The Perpetual Pavilion
This project was launched at several national pavilions in Venice in 2009 in order to guarantee Romani-Gyspy representation after the collapse of the OSI sponsored Roma Pavilion in that year (http://www.perpetualpavilion.org/the-project/). This was continued in Berlin parallel to the Venice Biennale in 2013, becoming the “4th Roma-Gypsy Pavilion” according to its artists and others in the Romani community.
Perpetuum Mobile’s focus on Roma-Gypsy art and the broader issues surrounding “pluriculturalism” are being developed in a new form at the Moderna Museet, Malmö (2014-2015) in co-operation with the Timea Junghaus (curator of the 1st Roma Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2007).
www.perpetualpavilion.org
The Arts Assembly
This innovative art-and-debate format has been deployed in a diversity of contexts, including ACSI in Helsinki, the Manifesta 8 (Murcia), ENSBA in Paris and CAFA in Beijing. It has developed a series of Chambers and Charters for p2p communication and organization.
www.TheArtsAssembly.org
Safe Haven / Residencies for Artists at Risk
The Safe Haven/On The Move residencies for visual art practitioners at risk is a programme linked to the international Safe Haven initiatives in many European cities. Perpetuum Mobile, in cooperation with HIAP-Helsinki International Artist Programme, has hosted artsts from Morocco, Egypt, Palestine and Syria, to name a few. In May 2015, the Anna Lindh Foundation and the Finnish Insitute for the Middle East, co-organised a concert for the leading Egyptian singer Ramy Essam at the annual World Village Festival, which Perpetuum Mobile had hosted as the first Safe Haven artist at risk.
http://www.hiap.fi/project/move
Perpetuum LABS
This series of laboratories in collective learning, activism, art and theory has had two iterations so far.
PERPETUUM LABS/BAC – CURATING THE POLITICAL was held at the Baltic Art Centre (BAC). It was based on texts and discussions proposed by the invited mentors.
www.balticartcenter.com/perpetuum-labs-bac/
PERPETUUM LABS II – CURATING THE SOCIAL in Helsinki (the Library of the Blind, Kallio Kunsthalle and Helsingin Elokolo, attempted to help generate collective momentum for socially-engaged art practices in Helsinki. It was based on proposals from local artists and activists, and included talks by invited art actors.
The School of the Displaced, 2nd Kiev Biennial 2015
The School of Displaced Persons is an initiative to map, share, develop and realize best practices in refugee-related work in the arts and beyond. Gathering newly displaced persons, art-actors and associated institutions, as well as art professionals who themselves have a history of involuntary displacement, the School’s programme includes workshops, exhibition and performance projects, discursive events as well as longer-term pedagogical and institutional outcomes.
http://www.biennialfoundation.org/2015/06/the-school-of-kyiv-kyiv-bienn…
Sino-Fi (forthcoming)
Linking Finish and Chinese art, with a large-scale exhibition at the Minsheng Museum in spring 2016 in Shanghai.
www.perpetualmobile.org
Mediterranean Art and History Residency in the Provence, France (forthcoming)
This future residency at the Chene Verte Villa in the Provence, on the Mediterranean coast, will provide a retreat for in-depth reflection and completion of longer-term projects by distinguished artists, historians and activists. The focus is on the history of the region, as relates to the French Resistance and the extraordinary work of Lisa Fittko, as well as the current dynamics of the northern Mediterranean area in relationship to the MENA region.
http://www.chene-vert.org/
Benjamin in Palestine (forthcoming)
As a continuation of PM's research on Benjamin and Lisa Fittko, as well as well its collaboration with local artists and partners in Palestine and Israel.
http://benjamininpalestine.org/
Perpetuum Mobile is keen to continue its cooperation with the Anna Lindh foundation, by consulting, inviting and co-hosting actors from the Middle East and Mediterranean areas. Our extensive network of art-practitioners, philosophers, political and human rights activists and journalists can consitute a valuable resource and bridge for bringing these important voices and forms of expression to Finland.
In May 2015, the Anna Lindh Foundation and the Finnish Insitute for the Middle East, co-organised a concert for the leading Egyptian singer Ramy Essam at the annual World Village Festival, which Perpetuum Mobile had hosted as the first Safe Haven artist at risk. We also co-produced Ramy Essam's first album/CD with the ALF, and hope to continue this excellent example of the kind of cooperation Perpetuum Mobile can offer.
The Anna Lindh foundation has exceptional experience and an extraordinary network of partners and contacts with expertise in the MENA and Mediterranean regions. Perpetuum Mobile's continued interest and future projects in these areas would benefit greatly from possible partnerships with the ALF, and joining as a network member.