2.-4.1. Athanasía Aarniosuo & Emma Peura: Revisiting Places of Importance

Exhibition open Friday to Sunday, January 2–4, 2026, 1–6 pm

Opening event on Saturday, January 3, 2026, at 5:00 pm

Revisiting Places of Importance is the duo exhibition of Athanasía Aarniosuo and Emma Peura. The body of work was created by the artists visiting places in Helsinki meaningful to them and sharing memories related to those places on site. The works were created during 2025 and explore memories set between 1995 and 2020. The artists have also shared some of these stories with their audiences, written on handmade paper. Both artists having a background in printmaking, it was pleasant to bring paper-based works into the exhibition.

When Aarniosuo and Peura started the creative process, they did not know each other well. During the process of making art and through making it, they have come to know each other and become friends. Sharing stories related to specific places has been an effective way to communicate their most important experiences. The stories are highly subjective, and this subjectivity is not concealed in the artwork. However, it is not clear to the viewer to which artist each memory belongs to.

During the process of creating the art works, remembering has also been a bodily experience. When Aarniosuo and Peura walked from place to place or traveled around Helsinki city centre and suburbs, the artist narrating also traveled back in time, while the other actively observed the place from the present moment. The narrator was, of course, also present in the here-and-now, in the past and in the present simultaneously. Active presence can evoke more memories and generate thoughts; the body remembers things that the mind may forget.

Analogue film was chosen as the main medium for the work not only because of its nostalgic qualities but also because neither artist considers herself an experienced filmmaker. Learning the new technique allowed for a relaxed and experimental way of working. One cannot focus too much on technical details when they are not fully understood. Using analogue media has also been a means of remembering; through the viewfinder of a film camera, the world appears differently.

At the exhibition, from January 2 to 4, 2026, an edited version of the artwork will be displayed along with a selection of the stories the artists shared during the process. Refreshments will be available during the exhibition opening event on Saturday, January 3, 2026, at 5:00 pm. 

@aarniosuo

@peuranemma