Press release for free publication, 4 June 2019
NEW FINNISH TRANSLATION OF ESSAY BY NOBEL LITERATURE PRIZE WINNER AND THOUGHTS ABOUT THE SERVICE DESIGN OF BOREDOM
The first Rauma Triennale offers new perspectives on boredom.
“When hit by boredom, go for it. Let yourself be crushed by it; submerge, hit bottom,” urges Joseph Brodsky, winner of the 1987 Nobel Prize for Literature, in his 1995 essay In Praise of Boredom. The programme of the first Rauma Triennale will include the first appearance in Finnish of these timeless thoughts, with the publication of Marja Alopaeus’s Finnish translation of Brodsky’s famous essay.
The Rauma Triennale 2019: In Praise of Boredom takes its English name from Brodsky’s essay, and will invite you to contemplate the power of idleness. The heart of the event is an international exhibition of contemporary art featuring the work of the following artists: Nabil Boutros (EG/FR), Emma Jääskeläinen (FI), Hertta Kiiski (FI), Maija Luutonen (FI), Paulien Oltheten (NL), Sari Palosaari (FI), Jaan Toomik (EE) and Elina Vainio (FI).
The artists at the Rauma Triennale are joined by pupils from Rauma Freinet School’s Year 5, who have written and produced a radio play about boredom for the Triennale. The play, entitled Land of Boredom in an Era of Apathy will premiere on Radio Ramona, a local radio in town, on Tuesday, 4 June at 6 p.m. It will also be featured in Turku in June as part of the programme of the Olohuone 306.4 km² Urban Art Festival.
The theme of boredom has also guided the visual and spatial design of the Triennale, which is the work of architect-designer duo Kaisa Karvinen and Tommi Vasko, who reflected on the idea of the service design of boredom and how the museum facilities could offer visitors opportunities to indulge in boredom. The made-to-measure furniture in the exhibition was produced in cooperation with a youth workshop organised by the City of Rauma.
Rauma Triennale 2019: In Praise of Boredom will be hosted at the Rauma Art Museum and garden in the heart of the Old Rauma wooden town. The exhibition will also breathe a last lease of life into the abandoned shopping centre of Tarvontori, soon to be demolished for the building of a new shopping and travel centre complex. The Triennale is being curated by exhibition curator Anna Vihma, and Anna-Kaisa Koski, who is responsible for the radio play and audience contacts.
The Triennale will be inaugurated on Friday, 7 June, and will be open to the public from 8 June to 15 September, 2019.
The Rauma Triennale continues the tradition of the Rauma Biennale Balticum, which was curated and hosted by the Rauma Art Museum from 1977 to 2016 and featured contemporary art from the countries around the Baltic Sea. The event established itself as one of the most important contemporary art events in the region. Now in its first edition as the Triennale, the exhibition will take place every three years. The Triennale is organised by the Rauma Art Museum and supported by the Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation and Arts Promotion Centre Finland.
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FURTHER INFORMATION:
Publicist
Johanna Salmela
johanna.salmela@rauma.fi
040 572 3213