Sini Rinne-Kanto on her time in New York and what's next

Paris-based curator Sini Rinne-Kanto has always had New York on her mind. After spending two months here earlier this spring, she is now bringing Tom of Finland back to New York in an upcoming exhibition this summer.

We sat down with Sini to learn more about her experience as a Paris-based Finn in New York and the exciting projects she is working on.

Originally from Rovaniemi in Finland, FCINY’s and Residency Unlimited’s latest Curator-in-Residence, Sini Rinne-Kanto, has been living in Paris, France, since 2010. There she studied for a Master’s degree in Art Management at the Sciences Po (Paris Institute of Political Studies) and worked in commercial galleries before becoming more interested in the alternative art scene. Now she is the Co-Founder and Head Curator of The Community, a collective-run, non-profit multidisciplinary art institution based in Pantin, in the north-east of Paris. Sini is currently also a Ph.D. candidate. Her research and multidisciplinary curatorial practice situate at the intersection of visual arts and design, looking into the notions of collective memories and identities across cultural, material, artisanal, and industrial practices.

Amongst other projects, Sini’s recent exhibitions and curatorial projects include RUN 14 FIELD of existence, a solo show by NYC-based artist Susan Cianciolo, which took place in spring 2022 at The Community Centre. In 2019, Sini also co-founded Salon de Normandy by The Community. The multidisciplinary art fair brings together an international community of galleries, exhibition spaces, projects, fashion collectives, art publishers, and experimental music labels during the Parisian art week in October. 

THE INTERDISCIPLINARY COMMUNITY

Founded in 2016, The Community exhibits and fosters critical discourse and work of artists and creatives in different forms - through exhibitions, events, concerts, performances, conferences, and talks – and across various disciplines, from art to fashion and music to publishing. The interdisciplinary aspect of the work that The Community does is a recurring one, according to Sini.

“The founding members of The Community come from different creative fields - including contemporary art, music, and fashion. We strove to create a curatorial platform where we could bring together the disciplines and their different audiences. In 2016, when the project was born, the different creative fields in Paris felt very separate and categorized, with little or almost no dialogue between them. It was important for us to bring this interdisciplinary thinking and these experimental ways of working with artists to the city, where we were sort of outsiders on the inside - understanding the society and its culture, yet being able to notice what was maybe missing at the time.”

When asked about what other values and themes speak to Sini in her job as a curator and in the art field, she also talks about intergenerational themes:

“The Community started as very experimental. We worked a lot with the younger generation of artists by providing a platform for experimentation, dialogue, and critical thinking. We still work continuously on this, giving space to under-represented artists, but now we have expanded to work more with historical artists and archives to bring this context into a dialogue with the younger generation of artists and creatives. I guess The Community could be defined today as something between a curatorial platform and Kunsthalle. But I try to avoid too strict definitions in terms of what we’re doing.”

Sini also mentions how The Community works with local schools in the neighborhood, doing workshops for children during the summer.

“The workshops we organize are often led by artists we might have featured previously in our exhibitions, which contributes to a long-term dialogue while experimenting with different forms of collaboration. We also regularly collaborate with other cultural venues in the neighborhood and have done exhibitions and other projects hosted by other international and French venues.”

PARIS VS NEW YORK

Since coming to New York, Sini has spent her time visiting exhibitions and artist studios and going on field trips. She also spent a week in Los Angeles. She visited LA during the hectic Frieze art fair week, dividing her time between doing research work at the Tom of Finland Foundation and attending different exhibitions and fairs and doing studio visits. She tells us that her time at the residency has been very inspiring and that New York has exceeded her expectations. When asked about the significant differences between living and working in Paris versus New York, Sini says there are noticeable differences, even though she tries not to compare the two cities too much.

“Historically, Paris has been more about the museums and the institutionalization of the art scene, but there has been a wave of renewal in the last few years. New spaces for artists and projects opening up, people taking more risks and being more open-minded, and a sense of internationality being more present. In that way, I think the art scene in Paris is going through something exciting. Then again, here in New York, the pace is uncomparable to Paris. Many things are happening all the time, both on an institutional scale and in the alternative scene, and you easily get caught by the feeling of, or rather the fear of, missing out. Many New Yorkers with whom I discussed were saying that the sense of “community” is back again after the rather difficult Covid years that were hitting the city and its creative communities hard. I felt this energy coming from the people; they were eager to collaborate and find different ways of working together, rolling up their sleeves and digging into work instantly.”

Sini also adds:

“New York also has an amazing and unique history regarding the emergence of alternative art spaces in the 1970s. During my stay in New York, it was inspiring to delve into the histories of structures such as White Columns, MoMA PS1, and the New Museum. They all have their origins in this specific moment of New York history when artists and other creatives started to self-organize and open up alternative artistic structures, often in derelict venues, while situating themselves somewhere between museums and commercial gallery venues.”

One thing that surprised Sini when she came to New York was how easy it’s been to meet new people and initiate new conversations.

“People here have been very generous with introducing me to their contacts, both professional and personal. I didn’t know many people before coming here, but finding a community of people has been quite easy, which has been a wonderful experience. There is also something addictive about the energy in this city. It’s kind of a stereotype about New York; how the pace of the city is so dynamic, but being here, you realize how true it is”, Sini says.

To the question of what made her want to come to New York in the first place, Sini tells us that New York has always been on her mind and that she always had this idea of living and working in New York. 

“When FCINY opened up the residency for curators, I knew I had to apply,” she tells us with a big smile. “It was also a good momentum for me to apply because I am doing a project here later in the year.”

BRINGING TOM OF FINLAND BACK TO NEW YORK

The project Sini is talking about is a group exhibition The Community co-curated with the Tom of Finland Foundation, called AllTogether. The Tom of Finland Foundation, established in 1984 by Durk Dehner and Finnish artist Tom of Finland, is a non-profit organization with the original purpose of preserving Tom’s vast catalog of homoerotic art. Several years later, the foundation’s purpose widened to offer a safe haven for all erotic art in response to rampant discrimination against art that portray sexual behavior or generate a sexual response. Today, the foundation continues in its efforts to educate the public as to the cultural merits of erotic art and to promote healthier, more tolerant attitudes about sexuality. Tom of Finland (Touko Laaksonen, 1920 - 1991) is widely regarded as one of the twentieth century’s most influential artists for his groundbreaking representation of the male figure and homoerotic art.

“The project started in 2018 when The Community was visiting LA. We knocked on the door to the Tom of Finland Foundation’s house, and Durk Dehner happened to be there, so he gave us a tour. We discovered the house’s permanent collection, which had never before been shown outside of LA. That’s how the dialogue between the Tom of Finland Foundation and The Community started”, Sini explains.

The show first took place last year and consisted of two simultaneous exhibitions, one in Paris and the other in Venice. This summer, it will continue in New York but with a new direction of focus. Just like the previous exhibitions, the show will feature parts of the Tom of Finland Foundation’s permanent art collection in dialogue with other artists’ work, but this time the show will also explore the underground queer scene and nightlife in New York from the 1960s until today.

“It was here in New York, in a leather bar in Manhattan, that Durk first discovered Tom’s work, so there are many layers of interesting history here. The upcoming show’s focus will be on the New York chapter of Tom’s work and, at the same time, creating a dialogue with contemporary queer artists in the city. While preparing for this exhibition, we have delved into the foundation’s archives and undertaken the mission to tell the untold stories of artists whose names otherwise might have been forgotten”, Sini says.

Besides curating a transhistorical show - featuring contemporary and historical works in one exhibition - the exhibition will also feature a clubhouse environment and an active event program, ranging from talks and screenings to performances and concerts, highlighting the themes of erotic art and the vital history of AIDS-epidemic related activism in NYC, amongst others. 

BACK IN PARIS

Now that Sini’s New York residency is over, she is back in Paris working on new exhibitions. On April 29, The Community is opening a new exhibition and book launch featuring the work of innen, a Zurich-based independent publisher founded by Aaron Fabian, showing his archives from the past 15 years.

Outside of her role at The Community, Sini also continues to pursue her doctoral studies, dividing her time between Helsinki and Paris.

“In my research, I’m looking at a specific moment of design history, notably the critique of modernism in the 1960s-1970s in Finland. These themes are also the focus of my personal curatorial work - looking critically at the collective identities and situated histories in the field of design while borrowing the toolbox, vocabulary, and general framework of the contemporary art field in the exhibition-making.”

To conclude her experience in New York, Sini says:

“I’ve met a lot of people, seen many things, and discovered a lot. I’ve certainly gotten ideas for new projects. Two months is far too short to experience everything New York has to offer, and I definitely want to come back in the future.”

And return, she will - at the latest in June, for the Tom of Finland exhibition that is taking place during Pride Week at the end of June 2023 in Manhattan. You can find more information on this, Sini, and her work and future endeavors on Sini’s Instagram, The Community’s Instagram and website, and on FCINY’s socials.

By: Nela Silfverberg