Anna Jensen and Eliisa Suvanto ⎜Finnish cultural foundation (Finland)

Bio

Anna Jensen and Eliisa Suvanto are pioneers of collective, site-specific and non-institutional contemporary art in Finland. Together, the curatorial duo have carried out various projects addressing issues of resources, social structures, accessibility and exhibiting practices. Suvanto and Jensen are founding and active members of Porin kulttuurisäätö collective, motivated by research, collective work, already existing resources, and activism. Porin kulttuurisäätö has since 2013 focused on site-specific exhibitions, commissioning new artworks and established its own nomadic biennale taking place in changing locations. Recent projects include Hill of Spirits (2024) in Mustarinda, exploring the possibilities of the Vaara-Kainuu Art National Park initiative, as well as Polygala Biennale – Plants, Animals and Things In-Between (2024) at the Natural History Museum in Helsinki, offering a place to imagine other ways of being and, on the other hand, creating. new perspectives on what is already known.

Project

At NART Anna Jensen and Eliisa Suvanto are focusing on site-specific research, including local, spatial and community based approaches. During the residency they are planning their future projects, ideally including something taking place in Narva in the coming years. Often their projects have an emphasis on public program and participatory audience work, where topics are addressed together and in-dialogue with the diverse audiences. Since 2024 Jensen and Suvanto have worked with a project titled “Cotyledon”, introducing children and young people to public art, as well as increasing their feeling of ownership in their living surroundings. The aim has been to plan and design durational monuments that their makers can foster even throughout their lives. The still on-going project serves as a framework, a place of experimentation and as a reference when mapping out the local experiences, especially of the youth.