Craft Rituals

Craft Rituals exhibition is a colourful multimedia artwork that leads visitors to an immersive fairytale world. It is a playful, holistic audiovisual experience for all ages. Chappe’s exhibition space is filled with large film projections that have 3D-animated elements and specially composed music as well as ritualistic handicraft installations and sculptures that create their own evocative universe.

Craft Rituals is inspired by Norse mythology and the legend of the three fate goddesses Urd, Verdandi and Skuld, who sit at the foot of the world tree Yggdrasil and spin their threads. In the exhibition’s narrative, a warp in the Tapestry of Fate is broken and the cosmos is out of balance. The only ones who can mend the tapestry are the Norns, who possess magical primal powers. Together they spin the threads of fate on their sparkling spinning wheels and give air to the heart of the Earth.

Interactive musical sculptures allow visitors to play with sound and image to become part of the exhibition’s ritual. The moving images are the result of an experimental collage technique that weaves together 3D animations with physical footage, hand-drawn images and photo montages, and music.

The Norns in Craft Rituals are portrayed by women in their 70s and 80s, and they, along with wool and sustainability, are in focus. Wool has many amazing properties; it is an outstanding antibacterial, moisture-absorbing, and eco-friendly fibre that is resistant to fire. 

With the exhibition, Chappe wants to highlight innovative ways to bring attention to the forgotten and rejected assets around us, both old handicraft traditions and natural materials as well as the beauty and knowledge of older people. 

Craft Rituals’ artistic director and producer is the Swedish artist Aia Jüdes. The exhibition has been created in close collaboration with illustrator Sanna Haverinen and animator Dennis Vera with participants and influences from Sweden, Finland and Iceland.

The Story of The Oak Tree

Chappe continues with The Story of the Oak Tree documentary video the #studiovisitchappe video series. 

When a northern red oak that is more than 50 years old had to make way for the new art museum being constructed, it was clear for architect Asmo Jaaksi, the head designer of the museum, that the tree should be salvaged and incorporated into the museum’s interior. Working in collaboration with carpenter and furniture designer Kari Virtanen, Jaaksi planned to build the customer service desk and benches of Chappe using planks sawn from the oak tree. Designer-carpenter Atte Pylvänäinen from Fiskars was commissioned to implement his design. When working the oak, Pylvänäinen sought to preserve as much as possible of its original essence. He let the knots and unevenness of the tree – categorised as defects by people – remain visible and perceptible in the finished furniture. The documentary shows Atte Pylvänäinen in his workshop in Fiskars as he transforms the oak tree into benches for the museum. 

The documentary film has been produced by Marianne Zilliacus / dlc-media.

The documentary film is available for watching at Chappe and on Chappe’s YouTube channel.

The Listening Eye

The Listening Eye, an exhibition produced in collaboration with Association of Finnish Fine Arts Foundations, in Chappe and Gallery Elverket.