Together Again

Together Again is an expansive art project fostering gatherings, workshops, intercultural dialogues and socially engaged art, organised by the Finnish Academic and Cultural Institutes across the world. Together Again presents six community-based works to audiences in Amsterdam, Brussels, Helsinki, London, Madrid, New York, Oslo, Paris, and Porto, as well as online. The project takes place throughout 2023 and culminates in a one-day festival held in Helsinki, Finland on the 8th of September 2023.

In the spring of 2020, as a response to the challenges caused by the pandemic, the Institute network announced an open call for new international art projects under the title of Together Alone. The open call sought artistic proposals related to the state of emergency, radical change, and resilience. The second iteration Together Alone 2.0 was launched in 2021, resulting in the exhibition Elastic Alliances at Hanaholmen Cultural Centre in Espoo, Finland and the seminar Artistic Collaborations in a Flux, focusing on new forms of artistic collaboration.

Together Again concludes the Together Alone trilogy and partakes in rebuilding of the international cultural field.

Together Again includes four new commissions from artists Matti Aikio, Minna Henriksson, Uwa Iduozee, and the Kairos collective. In addition, projects by artist Aapo Nikkanen and the artist collectives Middle Eastern Bloc and Pehmee-kollektiivi (The Soft Collective) are developed further on from the earlier phase of the project.

We have interviewed Matti, click here if you want to know more about him.

THE FESTIVAL

The project is presented to audiences during a one-day festival taking place in Helsinki and online on the 8th of September 2023. In addition to the physical experience of works in selected countries where the institutes are located, the festival will travel across time zones via online platforms. The digital programme includes online works, performances and recordings, artist presentations and discussions on best practice between artists and other cultural operators.

Karoliina Korpilahti from the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland and Elina Suoyrjö from the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York form the curatorial team for the project. Monica Gathuo works as the Executive Producer of Together Again.

“In the post-pandemic era, localised, long-term and sensitively supported processes are more important than ever. The community-based works that are produced as part of the festival seek to create impact and support structures for communities, specifically locally in Finland and in the countries where the institutes are located”, the curatorial team states.

Together Again is organised by the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York, the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux, the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland, the Finnish Cultural Institute in Madrid, the Finnish-Norwegian Cultural Institute and Institut Finlandais, and supported by the Finnish Institute in Germany, the Finnish Institute in Japan and the Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes (SKTI).

Together Again is made possible thanks to the Art² Grant of the Finnish Cultural Foundation and supported by the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation. The project is realised in collaboration with Bienal ‘23 Fotografia do Porto, Frame Contemporary Art Finland, The Showroom, the Vera List Center for Art and Politics, along with other partners.

CURATORIAL TEAM

Karoliina Korpilahti (she/her) is an arts manager and curator. She works as Arts Programme Director at the Finnish Institute in the UK and Ireland. She holds an MA in Aesthetics from the University of Helsinki. She has initiated and produced multifaceted art projects and exhibitions based on collaborative practices.

Elina Suoyrjö (she/her) is a curator, researcher and writer specialised in feminist approaches to curating contemporary art. She works as the Director of Programs at the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York (FCINY). Having started her job at the FCINY amidst the Covid-19 pandemic, her work at the institute has focused on unravelling experiences of isolation and trauma through notions of empathy, care, healing and recovery. Her programming includes the FCINY’s Withstanding podcast, and the collaboration-based Exercises in Togetherness program, which has been carried out in close dialogue with artists and writers based in Finland and the United States, as well as art organisations in Helsinki and New York.

Monica Gathuo (she/her) works as the Executive Producer of Together Again at the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York (FCINY). Gathuo has produced events, multimedia projects and other arts & cultural projects in Finland and abroad. Some of her work include the In Conversation with the Institutes online discussion series for the Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes network.

FINNISH CULTURAL AND ACADEMIC INSTITUTES

There are 16 Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes around the world. They advocate international mobility, visibility, and collaboration of Finnish professionals in the arts, culture, and research. All Institutes are independent non-profit organisations and are funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture. The institutes co-operate through a Helsinki-based association, the Finnish Cultural and Academic Institutes (SKTI).

Learn more about the project on the Together Again website.

You can also stay up-to-date by following Together Again on Instagram. #TogetherAgain2023