Art Center Ahjo, Hiili-space: Anna Kolehmainen

Anna Kolehmainen
For the lost ones
30.8-17.9.2023 - Hiili-space

In the fall of 2018, while sitting on the sofa in the living room with my newborn daughter in my lap, I read
shocking news: the oak mouse had been found to have disappeared from Finnish nature. My reading did
into a harmonic moment of distortion. I nursed a little human, sustaining life. At the same time
an entire species is disappearing from the world. I didn't even know he belonged to the sect of sleepwalkers
where the primate lived in the Turku region. The oak mouse is one of the countless species that
the sixth wave of extinction threatens.

I did know about the loss of nature, and I have noticed it myself, e.g. as the loss of fields and meadows
from the landscape and as a lack of insects. Still, nothing I had read before had pierced through
my consciousness with similar ruthlessness. Maybe the moment was right. Awakened by the news
the contradiction with my own personal happiness was exhilarating. Maybe I needed a stop
state of mind to understand what nature cover really means.

It is said that those who do not know history are doomed to repeat it.
This disturbing ignorance sparked the idea to become more aware of endangered species
by means of art. First, the environmental art piece "Herätys-kuolinkellot" was born, which is placed
permanently in the grounds of Taidekeskus Antares. The work consists of hanging on a tree
of ceramic wind chimes. Each of the watches is dedicated to one of Finland's nature
to an extinct species. Aesthetically, the work resembles an ancient Finnish bear skull tree.
After the bear was killed, the animal's life was sacrificed by hanging the skull on a high pole, from which
it would get back to its heavenly home. Wake-up death knells remind us of the species that
also have the right to one's own living space and survival on earth. Only by remembering can we
change our operations to be more sustainable in terms of nature and also our own future.

The feeling I feel when I read about the species washed away by the sixth wave of extinction is
fear of the future; what kind of world will we leave for future generations if we don't try to destroy nature
to stop? Knowledge of the natural state can be paralyzing. However, we cannot afford passivation.
Working on the works for the lost has been a process of dealing with these feelings related to the loss of nature.
The feeling motivates us strongly. Through the means of art, we can convey feelings, with which
our actions can be more conscious and constructive. I know I want future ones
that generations can live in a world with sufficiently good living conditions for everyone
of us, regardless of species. When the motivation arises, the means will be found.

Anna Kolehmainen
[email protected]
annakolehmainen.com