The fleeting spring cleaning of souls – artistic performance reflects on the significance of cleaning work

Dressed in white protective overalls and equipped with red dish brushes and yellow dish gloves, the group of adult students from the visual arts school will take over the rocky shores of Näsisaari on Friday, May 2, 2025, from 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM with their art performance, The Fleeting Spring Cleaning of Souls.

The artistic performance addresses the significance of often invisible work, in this case, cleaning, and its cultural, emotional, and social dimensions.

– The goal of the performance is to awaken passersby to see and experience everyday actions and the environment in a new way, says visual arts teacher Kukka-Maaria Koskinen.

The performance combines everyday tools, actions, and public space, pondering questions about their ownership and meanings.

– Who owns our public spaces? Who has the right to use them? What do we consider clean and what dirty? Who decides and why? For whom do we clean? Koskinen asks.

In addition to external cleaning, the performance examines inner purification. What do we carry with us, what do we sweep away, and what remains when the spring sun hits the dusty corners of the soul?

– The piece gently reminds us of the need to pause and take stock in life. Spring cleaning is not just about our homes but also our minds, society, and relationships, Koskinen notes.

The Fleeting Spring Cleaning of Souls includes both pre-planned and improvised actions for city dwellers walking and cycling through Näsisaari, as well as those traveling by tram. The best glimpses of the performance can be admired from the tram passing between Hiedanranta and Santalahti.

The performance is a pre-cleaning event for the city-wide cleanliness campaign organized by Ekokumppanit Oy on Saturday, May 3, 2025.