The Summer Artist 2024: Henri Airo

During the summer 2024, Henri Airo carried out an art project that traced the history of the Yrittäjä-Jussi (Entrepreneur Jussi) statue (Matti Peltokangas and Aarne Hakala-Rahko, 1984) in Seinäjoki. The project examined the different meanings that residents have attached to the statue at different times. The performative project consisted of archival research, participatory workshops and a public event which  took place on Sept. 6 at the statue. The project drew attention to the iconic landmark on its 40th anniversary. Airo’s project aimed to find out which human traits we consider worthy of canonising. The project invited people to reflect on the meaning of statues, celebration, and remembrance in our time as well as in the future.

Henri Airo (b. 1996, Helsinki) is an artist interested in human interaction. His research-based projects relate to different social phenomena through photographs and other lens-based mediums, text, and archival material. Alongside a subject matter, Airo’s works make visible the functioning of the mediums that we use to form and maintain social narratives. Airo completed a BA in Photography from LAB Institute of Design and Fine Arts in 2021. Alongside his personal artistic practice, Airo works as an educator and an arts worker in different projects.

What ennobles a man?

During the summer, Airo researched the history of the statue in the archives of the city of Seinäjoki and the National Archives in Helsinki. Airo conducted a survey in the Central Square based on the motto “Work ennobles man” inscribed on the pedestal of the Entrepreneur-Jussi statue.

“Along with the archival documents, I discovered that the motto “Work ennobles man” on the plaque of the statue of the entrepreneur, Yrittäjä-Jussi, was originally the personal motto of Reino Saarinen, the business councillor who conceived the idea for the statue. I wanted to hear the city’s own thoughts on what makes a person valuable. I also invited people to come and talk to me and share stories about Entrepreneur-Jussi.

Airo received over 100 responses from people at the Central Square in July 2024. In the survey conducted in the Central Square, the most common answer was that people are ennobled by the way they treat others.

A light-hearted statue committee decided on a new identity for Entrepreneur-Jussi

Henri Airo convened a light-hearted statue committee, which met for a couple of hours on 20.8.2024. The statue committee consisted of six members and the artist Henri Airo. During the meeting, a new temporary identity for the statue of the Entrepreneur Jussi was designed. Convened by Henri Airo, the light-hearted statue committee meeting had a wide range of ideas about what Jussi could represent. However, the committee found that the underlying theme of all the proposals was open-mindedness and the individual trying to be good to others.

The new identity was unveiled at the reopening ceremony next to the statue on 6th of September 2024. Entrepreneur-Jussi is You-Jussi, and the statue’s new motto is You and I ennoble each other. This can be read on the new nameplate, which has been placed on top of the old one. For the next month, the statue will be telling passers-by about solidarity and empathy. The plaque also features concrete hands, representing human openness and acceptance of each other. The statue will be returned on 10.10.2024 as Entrepreneur Jussi, which is just before the National Entrepreneur Days in Seinäjoki.

 

____ennobles a man

The Summer Artist’s project was presented in the Itikka space of the Kunsthalle Seinäjoki at Kaleva Navetta, 6.-7.9.2024. The installation ______ ennobles a man presented the material of the research project Airo had worked on during the summer. The exhibition, consisting of archival material, photographs, videos, collages and the answers to a survey conducted at the Central Square, brought together the colourful past of Entrepreneur-Jussi. At the same time, it asks the question: what kind of images of a man are worth celebrating? Henri Airo will also be part of the upcoming group exhibition Statuomania at Kunsthalle Seinäjoki, which will open next year on 25th of January 2025, curated by the Porin Kulttuurisäätö. This project started by Airo as a summer artist will also be reflected in the Statuomania exhibition. The exhibition which will reflect the nature of memorials and the processes involved are being reflected: Who can claim the right to celebrated and immortalized memories and visibility?

 

Follow the Summer Artist in social media channels on Facebook and Instagram during the summer. On the channel you can also access projects realized by Summer Artists from previous years.

 

Summer artist program

Each summer since 2017, City of Seinäjoki has hired a visual artist or visual art student to work as the Summer Artist. The Summer Artist, “Kesäkuvataiteilija” in Finnish, works for two months with their own independent artistic project. The idea is to create something that is visible to the local community or has participatory elements.