7.12.2024 - 19.4.2025

Chained to Light

Valoon kahlitut (Chained to Light) is a monument to the career of the pioneer in photography Julia Widgrén (1842–1917). The exhibition pauses to look at Widgrén’s life and photographs, and to examine the worldviews that emerge from behind them. The focus of the exhibition revolves around the development of photography in Finland, women’s active role in the early photography, and images of people in the countryside, especially women. The exhibition’s slow techniques pay homage to the craftsmanship of the photographic profession in the 19^th century. Widgren, who began her career in the 1860s, was one of the most successful photographers in Finland. She lived an exceptionally independent life as a woman and entrepreneur in Vaasa. Her most well known photograph is the iconic photo of Antti Isotalo and Antti Rannanjärvi in shackles, taken in 1869.  Isotalo and Rannanjärvi were infamous knife-fighters, part of the “puukkojunkkari” phenomenon in the 19th century South Ostrobothnia. The exhibition consists of archive photos, contemporary photography, object installations, textile works, drawings and videos.

The exhibition is created by a multidisciplinary working group, which includes Anne-Mari Ahonen, Heta Kaisto, Hanna Koikkalainen, Hanneriina Moisseinen and Anne Puumala. The exhibition is curated by Heta Kaisto and Anne-Mari Ahonen is responsible for the exhibition design. The working group dedicates the exhibition to collector Jouko Alanko.

Anne-Mari Ahonen (b. 1971, Kajaani) is an award-winning graphic designer, visual artist and multidisciplinary communication professional, with a particular focus on the themes of European migration in her works.

Heta Kaisto (b. 1984, Ii) is an art historian, author and curator who is studying the poetics of disaster as a Doctoral student in visual culture at the Department of Arts and Media at Aalto University.

Hanna Koikkalainen (b. 1980, Imatra) is a photographer whose works explore the cultural and emotional history of the border region and the ceded territory Karelia, as well as the themes of memory and the relationship with nature.

Hanneriina Moisseinen (b. 1978, Joensuu) is an award-winning visual artist, graphic novel artist and director who challenges the forms and perspectives of storytelling in her work with archival materials and emotional history.

Anne Puumala (b. 1976, Seinäjoki) is an award-winning journalist specialising in narrative journalism and historical subjects, particularly in the Ostrobothnia region.

The exhibition has been supported by the Finnish Culture Foundation, Finnish Art Promotion Centre, Svenska Kulturfonden, Otto A. Malmin lahjoitusrahasto, WSOY:n kirjallisuussäätiö, Svensk-Österbottniska Samfundet, Eugène and Elisabeth och Birgit Nygréns stiftelse.