The UN’s Migration Report 2024 estimates that 281 million people have moved to different countries – a massive 128 million increase since 1990. This prompts us to ask the question: how does someone find a sense of belonging whilst surrounded by new cultures, languages and people? Feels like Home, now on view at Kiasma, Finland, is a group show that addresses this question through works from 50 artists.
Niina Lehtonen Braun (b. 1975) examines identity by looking at the impact of upbringing. Mother Said consists of maternal advice gathered over five years. Inventive multimedia collages visualise sayings that range from “eat only from your own plate” to “life is too short for bad wine.” There’s also Cildo Meireles (b. 1948), whose Babel sculpture references the Biblical Old Testament story. It is a tower of stacked radios, reminiscent of Nam June Paik’s iconic TV installation, The More the Better. The cacophony of so many voices speaking at the same time in different languages reflects the breadth of the human experience.
Also on display is the Suites Francaises series, from lauded artist Elina Brotherus (b. 1972). In one shot, she faces the camera with a yellow post-it over her knuckles that says the French word for hand – “la main.” When the Finnish photographer moved to France in her early twenties, she tried to learn the language by plastering objects with translations – “la chaise”, “le matelas” and “des livres.” This project follows her journey from being an outsider to calling the country her adopted home. Here, visual art is harnessed as a tool to communicate what it means, and how it really feels, to traverse cultural and national boundaries.
Kiasma, Feels Like Home | Until 12 January
Words: Diana Bestwish Tetteh
Image Credits:
- Elina Brotherus, from the series Suites francaises 2. Photo: Petri Virtanen / Finnish National Gallery.
- Maarit Hohteri, Paula and Miro, Kuopio, 1999. Detail. Photo: Finnish National Gallery / Petri Virtanen.
