Where is where? at Logomo until May 29th

Eija-Liisa Ahtila's video installation is displayed until Sunday

This is the Finnish premiere for Eija-Liisa Ahtila's world-renowned Where is Where?. The Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art showcases two centrepieces of the Kiasma media collection: Eija-Liisa Ahtila’s and Isaac Julien's video installations. Both of the artworks are thematically linked to the Africa theme of the ARS11 Exhibition.

Eija-Liisa Ahtila’s video installation Where is where? explores the history of colonialism and how two cultures met in Algeria at the end of the 1950s, when the nation aspired to independence. The country was under French rule with repeated confrontations between the resistance and the French troops. 

The violent historical story will be told on the micro level through the eyes of three young friends playing together. In the story, two Algerian boys kill their young French friend. The story is also linked to contemporary Finland, where The Poet (Kati Outinen) and Death (Tommi Korpela) discuss the tragic story that extends over cultural boundaries. 

- The story includes several contemporary issues, such as the coming together of the Arab and Western cultures, the resultant cultural colonialism and the situation when one culture holds power over the other. We can also reflect on where we stand today: we are European but what are our boundaries and how do we interpret historical events?, said Eija-Liisa Ahtila last fall.

The one-hour story will be projected on six screens. Documentary footage on the historical Algerian battles has been included at the end. Kiasma bought the world-renowned piece during the spring of 2009, but couldn’t find a suitable venue until now at Logomo.

In Turku, Ahtila’s installation will precede another Finnish premiere from Kiasma’s collection, British artist Isaac Julien's Western Union: Small Boats which will premiere at Logomo June 17th.