ART CENTER AHJO, HEHKU-ROOM; THE WORLD THAT DOESN’T EXIST

VUOKKO SAJANIEMI - THE WORLD THAT DOESN’T EXIST 18.6.-6.7.2025

Vuokko Sajaniemi's text installation The world that doesn't exist is documentary literary art based on interviews. The exhibition texts are based on the authentic speech of those interviewed, which has been transcribed into verse and assembled into an installation. During the process, Sajaniemi has developed her own method of writing, combining research methods, speech documentation, poetic devices and the dimension of space.

The text installation is based on a collection of Eastern Finnish queer history that Sajaniemi carried out in 2023-2024. In connection with the collection, Sajaniemi interviewed people over 50 years of age belonging to sexual and gender minorities living / having lived in eastern Finland. Fifteen interviews have been selected as material for the exhibition texts - the age range of the interviewees is 55-79 years, and the majority of them come from small rural villages in North Karelia.

The queer history of Eastern Finland is a history of silence and invisibility that has hardly been studied - in the exhibition texts, this history comes to life through human experience and real people's life stories. In particular, the experience of the child, the importance of community and the Eastern Finnish mental landscape are highlighted.

The world that doesn't exist launches a series of exhibitions that will tour North Karelia from 2025 to 2026.

Vuokko Sajaniemi is a Polvijärvi-based writer who has published both fiction and non-fiction. In addition to her own literary projects, she works as a teacher of creative writing. The primary tools of her work are words and language, which she approaches with a multi-artistic approach.

The project is supported by The Kone Foundation.

Art Exhibition Opening:
17.6.2025 klo: 18-20