HELSINKI
WIND FROM THE EAST
Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma

The wave of museum exhibitions in Europe dedicated to emerging art from Asia (See AAP 53) has now reached Finland, where “Wind from the East,” organized by Kiasma curators Tuula Karjalinen and Marja Sakari, takes a synthesizing approach by presenting the works of eight artists from three countries: China, Thailand and Indonesia. This arbitrary grouping, together with the exhibition title, reflects a reductive approach compared to the multifaceted realities on the ground. Still, the curators contextualize the exhibition as a general introduction to three countries where artistic activity is particularly influenced by difficult social contexts: rapidly developing economies, religious conflicts and human rights issues.

While the exhibition provides a substantial platform for Indonesian artists underrepresented in the West, such a rising talent Eko Nugroho (See AAP 53), it gives precedence to widely established artists who have worked as “mediators” between local concerns and international viewpoints, original and globalized cultures, tradition and contemporaneity. This is exemplified by the inclusion of “classical” masterpieces by the late Chen Zhen (1955-2000) (See AAP 33, 38, 47, 49), who spent much of his career in Paris, for example, “Beyond the Vulnerability” (1999-2000), a series of houses built together with children using little colored wax candles, and Un-interrupted Voice (1998), which turns the metallic structure of a big cradle into a drum.

The lone Thai artists included, Araya Rasdjarmrearsook (See AAP 23, 45, 53) is less predictable. She is represented by several well-traveled works—namely, Reading the Corpse (1997-98), where the artist holds a delicate dialogue with corpses in a morgue—and more recent videos like Feces, Life, Love, Lust (2006), which relates the affectionate relationship between a woman and her dog by following their daily routine. In it, the distance between owner and animal gradually disappears through their emotional sharing. The respect for human values, so prevalently manifested in much of her work, recalls the Roman concept of pietas, or devotion to others, offering the possibility of a valuable, bridge between Eastern and Western cultures.

The work of the Chinese photographer Hu Yang also articulates sharp contrasts between tradition and innovation, local culture and economic pressure. His “Shanghai Living” (2005) documents the uncontrolled development of consumerism in the Chinese megalopolis and its dramatic social consequences (See AAP 48). The artist researched 500 private homes in Shanghai, recording the stories of families and individuals from diverse social classes. His simple documentary approach shows the solitude of migrant laborers in their dormitories as well as the “empty” luxury of the nouveaux riches. But out of this surprising chorus of images and faces emerges one wish common to everybody: the longing for a better life.

-- Luigi Fassi