Akseli Leinonen’s work Fishers of the Litorina Sea will be unveiled at a public event in Jätkäsaari at Madeiranaukio (Madeiranaukio 4) on Tuesday, 29 September, from 2 to 3 pm, with the artist in attendance. The work will be unveiled by Paavo Arhinmäki, Deputy Mayor for Culture and Leisure. Forum Box will also give a welcome address.
At the initiative of the Forum Box Cooperative, a two-stage art competition, Taidetta Jätkälle – Art for the Port, was organised in 2020 and 2021. The other organisers were the Port of Helsinki Ltd, the City of Helsinki and the Helsinki Art Museum HAM. The competition jury represented the organisers and also included two members selected by the Artists’ Association of Finland.
The aim of the competition was to find a site-specific public artwork for Jätkäsaari in the West Harbour area of Helsinki that would highlight the unique character of the neighbourhood.
Leinonen’s work connects Atlantinaukio and Madeiranaukio by drawing an imaginary sea level high above the viewers. Three framework-like boats supported by steel masts form a gateway-like structure. Fishers of the Litorina Sea welcomes passengers arriving in the area as well as local residents. When illuminated at night, the boats appear to float in the air. They are attached to 15-metre-high poles approximately 20 metres above sea level, as if floating above the water. The title refers to the Litorina Sea, which existed approximately 8,000 years ago and covered large parts of present-day Finland. At that time, the boats would have floated on the surface of the water while the viewers would have stood on the seabed.
The work directs our gaze towards both the past and the future. In the era of climate change, rising sea levels are a pressing issue, while the sea has also connected countries, peoples and cultures for thousands of years. The harbour continues this tradition of bringing people and places together. Leinonen’s work makes environmental change and continuity visible, inviting us to look at a familiar setting from a new perspective.
Read more about the Art for the Port competition
Photo: Maija Toivanen / HAM