events.

The exhibition Between Stones and Signals 20.9-12.10 opens at the Platform Gallery on September 19th. The exhibition presents works by two Ukrainian contemporary artists, Yuliia Bazchenko and Olga Drozd, dealing with Ukraine's defensive war.

In Finland, we have been following russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine through the media since February 24, 2022. The exhibition offers a more personal and in-depth perspective on issues related to the current situation. What does it mean to be a living citizen in the midst of a war that destroys not only human lives but also nature? How can one create meaningful connections or find comfort amid the horror and senselessness? The visually striking works do not shy away from the negative emotions that arose during the fourth year of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In the exhibition space at the Platform Gallery, Bazchenko’s and Drozd's works create an active dialogue that invites viewers to observe varying emotions and transitions between destruction, connections and comfort. The works in the exhibition raise questions about the desire of Ukrainian artists to communicate and reflect on the current situation in their war-torn country through their artworks. It is important to address these issues through art, which, unlike the media, offers a deeper surface for reflection on tragedies that do not always have verbal dimensions and that we share in the global world.

Both artists have spent time at Filmverkstaden's residency program Analogue Adventure, in collaboration with Artist in Risk, during 2025. Through Malakta´s residency program Residency of Hope, Olga Drozd has continued her stay in Maalahti. Patricia Rodas, initiator of the exhibition who has worked closely with the artists during their residency time, invited Noora Lehtovuori to join the curation process for the exhibition in which the voices and realities of talented Ukrainian artists take artistic form in the exhibition space.

The exhibition is supported by Filmverkstaden, Malakta and Platform, generously funded by Nordic Culturepoint and the Ministry of Education and Culture.

An invitation to the artistic practice of Maia Torp Neergaard

On 21^st September, Maia will invite you to a presentation of the work she has done during her residency in her on-going project Reflections on soil and agriculture. For the first part of her stay she has worked alongside farm workers at two farms in Singsby and Solf deepening her method of working - and thereof learning - alongside the people she makes pieces with and about. The work touches on weather, home, animism, immigration, climate change, and gratitude.

The event will start with an analogue screening of some of the work in progress made in Finland, an artist talk about Maia’s methods of working and end with an open conversation with snacks and coffee.

The talk will be held in English.

We look forward to seeing you 21^st September at 3:00 PM
Sepänkyläntie 2 in Funkkis

During their residency, artist duo Bigum+Björge have continued their exploration called ephemeral beings, working through an intuitive and nature connected lens. Their practice investigates the interplay between human imagination and nature, expressed through 16mm film and still photography. Using a poetic visual language, they engage with nature through themes of belonging, understanding, and the rediscovery of a pure, childlike sense of playful creativity. Through pareidolia—the instinct to perceive familiar forms in abstract patterns—they create a subconscious dialogue between perception and the shapes, materials, and structures found in nature. Deeply inspired by a workshop with Greg Pope, which marked the beginning of their residency, Bigum+Björge’s work culminates in an expanded cinema performance.

They are the interdisciplinary artist duo; Bigum+Björge, formed by photographer and filmmaker Anders Bigum and designer Gry Björge. In their artistic investigation they explore the connection between humanity and nature through the lens of tales and imagination. They create ephemeral sculptures, meticulously sculpted from materials sourced directly from nature. The sculptures that they call; ephemeral beings are imaginary creatures with recognisable features that spark the imagination of the viewer. Once photographed and printed using non-toxic analogue techniques, these beings are returned to nature to naturally disintegrate.

Film-Circuit in Series reveals the hidden energies of silver halide film, treatingit as both image and circuit. Two circuits intertwine: one of tin dendrites, grown upon the organic patterns of video feedback, and the other etched by high-voltage discharge. By triggering the spark through the dendritic circuit, human infrastructure generates Lichtenberg figures, fractal patterns tracing electricity’s passage, in real time.

Inspired by Kirlian photography’s attempt to reveal the aura of living beings, this process exposes a hidden ‘nervous system’ within the film—fragile veins of metal shimmering with spectral energy. As these electrical traces emerge and

dissolve, the film becomes a site of unstable transmissions, where matter itself pulses with a ghostly charge.

Human Infrastructure is a Seoul-based audiovisual noise duo. human infrastructure combines noise music with experiments in expanded cinema to create cybernetic systems in which sound and film image modulate each other. Their idea of audio-visual is not one in which audio affects visuals in a causal way, or visuals determine the sound, but rather one in which audio and visual build upon each other through the incorporation of multiple bodies. Recently, they have been focusing on inscribing generative images on film through electrochemical interventions, and are developing

devices to operate them. human infrastructure also runs Gäro, a lab for experimental analog audiovisuals, to organize screenings, seminars, and workshops for and by artists and scholars of moving images. They have opened for Experimental Film & Video Festival EXiS in 2023 and performed at WeSA Festival in Seoul.

During her residency Oona Libens has been dealing with the topic of death and the afterlife - following her mother's death shortly before. In this ongoing project she explores diverse cultural and spiritual traditions including the Egyptian death cults, Buddhist perspectives, and other more or less esoteric frameworks surrounding the afterlife.

Oona has worked with masks in both the filming and printing process and plays with the three-dimensional possibilities of the screen. Through 16mm film, slide sequences, light and shadow-based imagery the work tries to echo the liminal and irreversible quality of death itself.

At the basis of Oona Libens' creative process is a fascination for light and shadow, which she uses in performative work or in two- or three dimensional objects/installations. Oona uses several analog projection techniques such as the magic lantern, epidiascope, slide projection, 16mm film and overhead projections. With a manual approach she visualises scientific topics, combining live image making with a more or less narrative soundscape, Her performances are a hybrid between object theatre, expanded cinema, pseudo-science and poetry.

Kindly supported by Nordic Culture Point, Konstsamfundet, Taike and Vaasa city.

https://oonalibens.com/

We recently introduced our resident artist, Olga Drozd from Ukraine. Now, she invites you to get to know her better.

On Friday, March 21, an artist talk will take place, where Olga will share her key projects, discuss pivotal moments in her artistic journey, and reflect on her professional path. She will also talk about the themes that concern her now—new ideas and projects currently in progress.

The event will have a relaxed atmosphere: after the main presentation, there will be time for open conversation. The talk will be held in Ukrainian and Swedish.

We look forward to seeing you this Friday at 6:00 PM!

The residency has been generously supported by Nordic Culture Point, Artists-at-Risk, Taike and Vaasa city.