Pixelache Festival has happened in many interesting and unique locations, but for some reason for many of us the island locations – Suomenlinna, Vartiosaari, Naissaar (Estonia) – have been the most memorable.
During 2024, long-term Pixelache members Antti Ahonen & Andrew Gryf Paterson in collaboration with Jenna Jauhiainen take us back to these islands by organising guided tours and happenings for a small group of participants. These events are part of the ongoing memory work and archiving processes related to Pixelache's 20+ years of history, and are open to both carriers of memories of past festivals and the willing creators of new memories.
The Island Apocalypse Tours of 2024 engage with the concept of Solastalgia, a term coined by Glenn Albrecht which refers to the distress and melancholy of losing one's own environment and habitat, especially in the context of climate crisis and biodiversity collapse. In addition to delving into memories of past Pixelache Festivals, these Island Tours will be an opportunity to discuss not only the changing ecological ecosystems of our environments, but also the social and technical environments that have related to our cultural work in self-organized, emerging and grassroots organisations. The last Island Tour to Tarvo will compile documentations and finalise the series.
Island Apocalypse Tours: #1 Suomenlinna
On Saturday 23rd of March, the first island we return to is Suomenlinna. Starting right after a day of HIAP Open Studios (see link below for details), we are organising a sleepover at HIAP for up to 12 participants. We will serve dinner at 8PM and continue from there with facilitated talks and memory work in the spaces that hosted Pixelache Festival for example in 2005 and 2011.
In the morning of Sunday the 24th, we will cook and eat breakfast together before heading out for a walk and talk around the island. We will for example visit the Hostel Suomenlinna that accomodated many of the international guests of Pixelache Festival from 2003 to 2011.
If you cannot join us for the sleepover, you are welcome to participate only on the walk and talk on Sunday that will begin from Gallery Augusta of HIAP at 10AM.
To sign up, please email jenna@pixelache.ac
NOTE: We will cover the ferry trip back and forth to Suomenlinna for those who need it.
Tour #1 FB Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/215112864997422
Information about HIAP Open Studios Winter 2024: https://www.hiap.fi/event/hiap-open-studios-winter-2024/
Acknowledgements: This particular 'tour' event is hosted by HIAP, but is organised by Jenna Jauhiainen, in cooperation with Antti Ahonen & Andrew Gryf Paterson, as part of Pixelache Helsinki's 2024 programme, supported by TAIKE & Helsinki City. Image credit: Photo by Antti Ahonen, Graphic by Tuomo Tammenpää, composition by Jenna Jauhiainen.
Island Apocalypse Tours 2024
#1 Suomenlinna (23.–24.3.)
#2 Vartiosaari (6.-7.6.)
#3 Naissaar (2-day trip via Tallinn, 16-20.8.)
#4 Tarvo (1-day trip in September, date TBA)
Past memory work and archive processing events:
Photo-tagging Amok events (19.9.2013, 17.10.2013, 1.11.2013, 12.2.2014): https://pixelache.ac/events/photo-tagging-amok-february-2014
Koelse & Pixelache 15 Years (21.9.-1.10.2017): https://festival2017.pixelache.ac/events/koelse-and-pixelache-15-years
Looking backwards >|< looking forwards (6.11.2020): https://pixelache.ac/events/looking-backwards-looking-forwards
Gathering of Elders: The Kiasma years 2003-2010 (11.12.2020): https://pixelache.ac/events/gathering-of-elders-the-kiasma-years-2003-2010
Gathering of Elders: 2002 edition (28.05.2022): https://pixelache.ac/events/gathering-of-elders-2002-edition
Pixelache: How Do We Keep Going? (01-06.2022): https://pixelache.ac/projects/creatures/
Looking Backwards >|< Looking Forwards: 20 Years of Pixelache Party (04.12.2022): https://pixelache.ac/events/looking-backwards-looking-forwards-20-years-of-pixelache-party