The Boat
Many centuries ago, a handful of migrants came to camp on the river Aura. There was something in the land that made these people establish a permanent abode and later call it Turku or Turgu which means Market Place in old Slavic language.
In 2011 a handful of migrant artists are coming to give this river another meaning. The meaning that these artists carry will bring along with it all the history, struggles and aspirations these artists hold, as a handful of migrants did more than 6 centuries ago.
As part of celebrations of Turku the Cultural Capital of Europe year 2011, these migrant artists will express and share their message's in the form of installation's on this river and around it precisely near the waterfall of Halinen.
These artists, born in different countries as far away as India, Chile, Iraq, Greek, Syria, Hungary and Israel; all left their home countries for various reasons and migrated to different countries in Europe to experience different way of living and being.
As we know when an outsider with totally different experience comes to a new place and shares her/his impressions of the place, these observations become very valuable and revealing. Furthermore, these observations become more valuable when these observers are artists and thinkers.
These eight artists will work on the theme of the Boat, and present their spectacular works on that slope near Halinen. The smallest of these undertakings will be 3 metres long and the largest 100 metres. Some of the works will be real boats, others an expression ”boat” as an idea, some of them will be virtual works which bring the audience into mental treatments of the idea.
The audience will be able to interact and contribute to the works so that anyone can share in the experience of the artists, giving a different interpretation and meaning to their lives. Isn’t it the whole purpose of these celebrations?
Amir Khatib
