Ever wondered how we would communicate if an energy crisis should hit? One power cut could leave us friendless, for a while at least. Internationally renowned, contemporary Polish sculptor Miroslaw Balka uses the two-flag, maritime semaphore signaling system in the project entitled Signals to throw the spotlight on our dependence on electricity and how two simple flags can keep us in touch and convey our messages. The work spans four days and involves different communities in and around Helsinki. Each day will be devoted to a predetermined communication point in a specific area and will begin with a visual signal on city streets followed by a verbal discussion on the needs of communities in an urban space and what might happen when the lights go out.
This will culminate in a movie, The Unilever Series: Miroslaw Balka, and a live interview with Balka and curator Juan Vicente Aliaga on Saturday, April 13. To take the point one step further, chief curator Nato Thompson from Creative Time, New York, will stretch our imaginations to incorporate his innovative take on art in public space in an address on the same day.
Film
The cinema plays a key role in this festival, starting with Jeremy Deller and Mike Figgis’ The Battle of Orgreave, a work based on the violent clashes between police and miners during the Thatcher era in Britain and later reconstructed using 800 participants — some of whom had taken part in the original struggle. Art brings about change and the creativity of the individual is a key aspect to the works of Joseph Beuys’ performances, installations, sculptures, drawings and lectures. Directed by Gianfranco Mantegna, Joseph Beuys – Dialogue with Audience is a film showing the artist talking to an audience at New York’s Cooper Union College in 1980. More films include Francis Alÿs’ The Nightwatch and Guards and Goro Miyazaki’s From Up on Poppy Hill.
Music
Miraculous things will be happening at the IHME Club between beatbox artist Felix Zenger and percussion wizard Samuli Kosminen, who will get your feet tapping and your fingers snapping. There’ll be funky jazz with Mopo and electronic indie pop with Phantom until the early hours. For plenty more on the entire IHME program, check the festival’s website.
