In December 2011, Finnish Ambassador to the Caribbean Mikko Pyhälä visited the Grenada Arts Council (GAC) gallery, then on Young Street, St George’s, across from Tikal, now the House of Chocolate, to see Little Jewels, the last exhibition of the year.
Thrilled with what he saw, Ambassador Pyhala purchased work from Big Up Art Awardee Tiaa Williams, entitled Divine, and pledged to work with the GAC to assist us in our work to promote Grenada’s artists.
Finnish Ambassador to the Caribbean, Mikko Pyhälä and and Suelin Low Chew Tung, 2011. Photo: GAC
Six years later, I met another Finn, artist Timo Rytkönen, in Feutersoey, a village just outside the ski capital for the rich and famous, Gstaad, in Switzerland. We were at an Open Spaces artist residency for about three months. Timo’s practice, it seemed then, was to upend ways of looking at art, of art itself. During the residency, his daily practice was one of addition and subtraction and turning things on their heads.
Overhead view of 8 boats in a fountain, Feutersoey, Switzerland. Collaboration by Timo Rytkönen and Suelin Low Chew Tung, 2017. by Photo: SLCT
During the last days of the residency, Timo created an environmental artwork. Stones collected during his long daily walks appeared as an infinity symbol in the water trough outside the schoolhouse, clearly visible in that cold, cold water. I added paper boats with the names of Grenada’s six parishes, plus our Grenadine islands, Carriacou, and Petite Martinique.
L-R: Prensnelo (Haiti), initiator Greg Holt, Roderick MacLeod, Suelin Low Chew Tung (Grenada), Kyra MacLeod, Timo Rytkönen (Finland). Photo: Melanie Gerber
I am presently in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, for 2 weeks, at an impromptu self-directed residency at The Cable Factory—the largest cultural centre in Finland, housing museums, artist studios, an art schools and more. From the factory with its inspiring history, almost every day I am wandering the streets, the nearby cemetery, art museums, and discovering something new about Finnish art and culture.
This morning’s read: 100 Social Innovations from Finland by Dr Ilkka Taipale. Photo: SLCT
Helsinki is well known for its art, culture and architecture, and, as I discovered this morning, at least 100 social innovations. Not a bad place to regroup after opening my work at the Venice Biennale. Side note: Finland recognised Grenada in November 1974 and established diplomatic relations in June 1980. At the end of my time at the factory, I hope to recreate that first Grenada-Finland collaboration of water, stones, infinity, and paper boats.