Sibelius - Close to Nature: Mark of the Forest

The Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in collaboration with the Adelaide Festival Centre and Lea Turto, Visual Artist in Finland present photographs of Finnish Environmental Art exhibited in celebration of the Sibelius Festival.

Sibelius' music is said to have been inspired by phenomena in both Finnish and Lappish ancient religions, beliefs, story telling traditions and their relationship to nature that contain features separating them from the traditions of Western and Southern Europe.

'The undercurrent of the rich mythology of the Finno-Ugric people was a shamanistic and animistic perception of the world.  This deep fatalistic connection between man and nature is also reflected in Finnish art – in literature, music, design and architecture, as well as in different art forms.  It is perhaps most evident in environmental art. 

Contemporary Finnish environmental landscape art challenges us to ponder, who we are, where we belong, and what our place is in the great universal cycle'.

Like Sibelius, 'environmental artists share an interest in truly experiencing a place.

Environmental art uses nature as its raw material and as a display site. As such, it is expressed in many ways: as a home to mythological spirits, as a refuge from the urban world, as a gateway to the spiritual world of beyond, as a place of mental purification, as a homestead and a place of work, as an object of exploitation, as a depiction of ecological problems or as a forum for political power. 

Aesthetic, ethical and economic concepts, values and expectations are thus projected onto environmental art works.  A forest is not only the wilds of nature but also a part of Finnish mythology and identity.  However, it also represents modern primary industry.  Environmental art thus has social dimensions and aims and it belongs to a public place rather than a natural landscape.  Art offers tools to reconstruct and represent this.

The roots of Finnish environmental art and music lie deep in the mental landscape of Finland.  However, the point is not about a return to pure nature or to the roots of tradition, but rather that All new cultural discourses exist in a particular place.  They come from some area, some history, some language, some cultural tradition; it is from there they gain their shape (cultural researcher Stuart Hall)'.   

Extracted from text by Timo Jokela, Finland 2007

(contact artspace@adelaidefestivalcentre.com.au for a full version of Jokela's essay)

Image: Lea Turto  The Sacred Realm of the Forest Elf, "Hiisi": the spiritual meaning and pantheistic connection of the forest, in Finnish mythology / old religion.
Situation: Helsinki, Central Park (forest)