Is It for Real? 80th Anniversary Jubilee Exhibition of Tampere Art Museum 20 May - 28 August 2011

25.05.2011 11:09

Tampere Art Museum celebrates its 80th birthday with an exhibition that introduces a completely new approach towards existing pieces of art. The festive crossover is a combination of old and new art and real and fabricated stories.

The manuscript of the exhibition was written by the Finlandia Award winning writer from Tampere, Johanna Sinisalo. This is how she describes the idea behind the exhibition:

"A work of art is often easily interpreted as a reflection of the time of its creation: what were the isms and the trends of the time? What was the artistic atmosphere like then? What kind of historical context surrounded the work of art at the time? Supposing the work of art was to be set in an entirely fictional context - would the subjective experience of the work then be different?

When I was asked to curate the 80th Anniversary Jubilee Exhibition of the Tampere Art Museum, I explored the history of the museum for that very purpose, and immediately became fascinated by the museum building itself, designed by the famous and prolific architect C.J. Engel. Its way from a Crown Granary to an art museum has been varied and interesting, and even after its adoption as an art museum the building has had other than cultural uses – for instance during the war when it was used by the Ministry of Supply.

I could not help thinking of what kinds of alternative, fictional histories one could create for the building, in addition to its genuine and colourful past, and of how the art works in the museum’s collections would be reflected in the minds of the viewers were they to be connected with an entirely or partly contra-factual – that is, fictional - history of Tampere.

These reflections inspired the idea of an exhibition with the title “Is This for Real?” The various rooms in the building of the Tampere Art Museum, and the collections of art works located in them, together create their own prima vista stories. What do works of art tell us when they are set in a brand new interpretation context?

This kind of historicism produced by imagination is also linked to an interesting question: how much disinformation and contra-factual “information” are we constantly subjected to in our so-called information society? How often do we not read news in the newspapers or on the internet without even momentarily wondering about its veracity? Is it even possible to make a distinction between truth and careful fabrication, other than with the help of in-depth knowledge? One of the objectives of this exhibition is to invite the viewer to reflect on the question.

The works of art are genuine, but the history a falsification. This creates a situation in which the public has an opportunity, while taking in the works of art, to imagine, to wonder, to be amazed and perhaps even a little provoked, and first of all, to ask the question: “Is this for real?”

- Curator of the exhibition, Author Johanna Sinisalo, 2011

Tampere Art Museum
Open Tue – Sun 10 am – 6 pm, admission 6/2 €
Tel. +358 3 5656 6577
tamu(at)tampere.fi
Puutarhakatu 34, FI - 33230 Tampere

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