Spectrum
Gender and Sexuality in Contemporary Art
The exhibition boasts a wide-ranging offering of contemporary art, which depicts the diversity of gender and sexuality. With this exhibition, the museum is taking a stand on equality and introducing new voices to the debate on this subject.
The exhibition shows the work of sixteen artists, including photography and videography pieces, installations, sculpture and Finnish ryijy rugs. The artworks deal with gender, identity development and experiences with discrimination, but also liberation, pleasure, intimacy and caring. Some of the artists present works dealing with personal identity issues: The exhibition will serve as the premiere of Artor Jesus Inkerö’s video, in which they ponder the ideal home of a queer person. Illusia Juvani demands unabashedly space for their own femininity in their video piece. Emma Sarpaniemi poses in embraces with her friends, showing the friendship and trust between women in her photography.
Works with a Documentary Approach
Some of the exhibition pieces take a documentary approach: Heidi Lunabba’s work is made up of collectively curated material from workshops held at WAM and other places. In a series of photographs by Jenni Holma, non-binary people explain how they cope with the expectations of society. Minna Havukainen’s video piece presents persons from the BDSM community sharing thoughts on what it means for them to be kink.
Support for the queer community is important for many people who belong to a gender or sexual minority. Indeed, the exhibition was arranged in co-operation with artists, experience experts and associations. Turun seudun Seta ry – LGBTQIA+ Rights in Turku area, Sateenkaariperheet ry – Rainbow Families Finland, and Turku Pride ry participated in the planning. The exhibition is accompanied by a publication, in which a number of authors make insightful observations concerning the exhibition works and reflect them in their own experiences. Representatives from a variety of fields were chosen as the authors, many of whom are themselves members of a gender or sexual minority. The introduction of the publication was written by the Turun seudun Seta ry chair Taija Ahlstedt.
The artists
Jacob Dahlgren, Minna Havukainen, Jenni Holma, Riikka Hyvönen, Artor Jesus Inkerö, Illusia Juvani, Enni Kalilainen, Teemu Keisteri, Kaisu Koivisto, Aleksi Kolmonen, Heidi Lunabba, Abdullah Qureshi, Emma Sarpaniemi, Noora Schroderus, Anna-Karoliina Vainio and Eero Yrjölä.
The exhibition is curated by Anna Perälä, Exhibitions Curator at Museum Centre of Turku.
Photo: Ville Mäkilä, Museum Centre of Turku.