MUISTIN EROOSIO JA TOISIN NÄKEMINEN / ERODING HUMAN MEMORY – The Process of Creation of Meanings

Curators: Esko Nummelin & Anni Saisto

What is art that is typical to the Satakunta province? What is Finnish art? Who can be called a master, who a trailblazer? On what grounds? Maurice Halbwachs first used the concept of collective memory back in the 1920s. It is not a metaphor but a social reality created, passed on and maintained by groups and institutions. Interpretations of the past are not constructed on the basis of individual memory; individual memory is socially constructed and therefore formed by mutual communication.

The Erosion of Memory explores the temporal layers and modes of viewing associated with public art. The centrepiece of the show is Juhani Tarna’s large mural Smokes. Originally commissioned for the Pori Polytechnic in 1966, the mural depicts a modernising industrial town. Conservated in conjunction with the renovation of the Science Park campus, Smokes will be on display at Pori Art Museum through spring 2018, prior to being mounted at the renovated facilities at Science Park. The work belongs to the collections of Pori Art Museum.

Open Storage
Open Storage offers the public a different view of art by placing the museum’s collections on open display in the Hall, the museum’s main exhibition space. Paintings, sculptures and even installations by Finnish and international artists from different periods are all on show in a compact configuration, without the display aesthetics familiar from typical exhibitions. Open Storage gives the audience access to a veritable jungle of art where you are free to let your eyes and mind wander and focus intuitively on anything of interest. The display also makes visible the practices involved in the maintenance of museum collections, the cultural memory of our society.

The Create Zone is a place for participation that now has a dedicated space of its own, adjacent to the Open Storage display in the Hall. The Create Zone was first conceived, and has since been developed, in response to the audience’s wish to participate hands-on and to comment on exhibitions and artworks. Designed to serve the educational needs of all of the museum’s audiences, this permanent space is accessible and inspiring. The Create Zone allows independent work and is also integrated with guided tours and workshops. It is a space where you can explore, engage or just hang out – or do everything at once. Every new exhibition brings new assignments and questions to the Create Zone.