Spotlight with Paula Toppila
Paula Toppila, Executive Director and Curator, IHME Helsinki (Pro Arte Foundation Finland), Helsinki, Finland
Could you tell us a little more about your background and how you got into curating?
I got into curating already back in 1990´s. I studied art history at University of Turku, Finland and having taught art history after graduation at the Open University for a while I started working in an artist-run space. There we invited Danish artist Henrik Plenge Jakobsen to present Atomic Show, a group show of young Danish artists he had curated. We had good conversations and Henrik told me that there is an interesting curatorial programme at De Appel Foundation that had started then in Amsterdam. I got immediately interested, applied and got accepted. That experience was professionally pivotal for me: understanding what curating can be, getting to see many exciting approaches to curating in international exhibitions and meeting curators and artists changed the professional perspective for me.
Who/what has influenced your curatorial practice?
As you can read in this interview many artists have been very influential to my work as curator, I have learned so much from contemporary art and from artists. In IHME context close collaboration with artists towards new commissioned art works have also informed the direction we are taking as an art institution. For example, collaboration with artists Amar Kanwar and Hiwa K have resulted in our translocal production models. Many international exhibitions have been inspirational like Documenta exhibitions curated by Catherine David, Okwui Enwezor, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and Indonesian collective ruangrupa. Münster Sculpture Project lead by Kasper König in 1997 was eye-opening as a first large-scale public art exhibition for me at a time. I also love the ten-year-cycle there and returned to Münster for 2007 and 2017 editions.
I’m also very happy about all the expertise in my Advisory Board that currently includes both professor at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore and curator of many international survey exhibitions Ute Meta Bauer and Maria Lind, currently director of Kin Konstmuseet I norr in Kiruna, in northern Sweden along with artist and researcher Antti Majava and Hanna Guttorm Senior Researcher in Indigenous Studies at the University of Helsinki.
The role of the curator is continuously changing. Could you describe what it means to be a curator today?
Seven years ago when finishing my management and leadership studies and writing an operational environment analysis my thinking was profoundly affected by the planetary condition, global warming, nature loss and humanity exceeding the planetary boundaries. I am working as a curator in the global North, in a small, rich welfare state where the ecological footprint - which measures the consumption of natural resources – of which is the third largest in the world, and thus it became clear to me that we need to take action also in the arts. Around the same time we started working with artist Henrik Håkansson, who proposed to make a film entitled THE BEETLE featuring an endangered species of a beetle in Vantaa, Finland, that almost vanished from the planet due to human action. As a result of these ponderings we decided to change our organization and not only to produce art works that bring together art, scientific research and climate work, but also to critically look at our operations as an art institution. How much and how do we use natural resources, what is our impact to nature loss, how can we promote cultural change needed in environmental crisis?
To be a curator today means to me an active and creative role in society and to explore what does freedom of art within life-sustaining systems mean. I am particularly passionate about learning by doing together with visionary artists, researchers, diverse audiences and other collaborators what is the role of art and art institution in sustainability transformation. Art and culture are pivotal in creating cultural change needed in environmental crisis.
Sustainability transformation means the big changes taking place in many areas of society and life that needs to happen at the same time ( eg food and energy production, transportation of people and goods etc.), with the help of which the carrying capacity of the natural environment is secured.)
Tell us about the latest exhibition / project that you curated.
The core production of IHME has always been and still is a one annual commission in the public realm. IHME was IHME Contemporary Art Festival during the years 2009-2018 and since 2019 ecological sustainability has been in the core of all our activities. Now the organization is called contemporary art commissioning agency IHME Helsinki. In IHME Helsinki Commission 2023 Chicago Boys – While We Were Singing, They Were Dreaming by Kurdish artist Hiwa K, a diverse group of people formed an amateur band and practiced together twice a week for six weeks. All rehearsals were a platform for bringing different understandings and experiences of everyday life and turning them into a diverse interpretations of neoliberalism in action. Public rehearsals were open to anybody and held in selected built environments and urban forests that are threatened to be destroyed due to city development projects. Hiwa K run the project simultaneously in Sulaymaniyah in Iraqi Kurdistan creating tailor-made projects to the local audience there.
This year´s IHME Helsinki Commission 2024 by London-based Cooking sections will be Maaleipä-haaste (Earth Bread Challenge) where anyone interested is welcome to share their recipies for the bread of the future that nourishes both the soil and the human being. The best breads will be selected by a jury in a public event and awarded. The aim is to support people to make and eat healthier food through understanding that we are part of and contribute to the same ecosystem with natural environment. At the same time, we are supporting green transition of Finnish agriculture and farmers that invest in regenerative farming methods, in order to enhance food security in the times of chronic crises.
What are you reading, watching, or listening to now, that is helping you to stay relaxed and positive?
I am listening (and dancing) to African-American music from James Baldwin´s record collection, anything from Aretha Franklin to Nina Simone and Diana Ross. Very energizing.
How long have you been part of IKT and how do you feel that it has benefited your curatorial practice?
I think I became a member in year 2000 when a colleague asked me join. The best thing IKT has to offer is the annual congress, during which you can visit interesting art institutions with colleagues from around the world. IKT has provided a platform to learn about variety of curatorial practises in diverse social and political contexts. This year I’m particularly happy that the Congress is scheduled to happen in Switzerland so that everyone can continue from there by train to Venice Biennial professional preview days. This means less emissions from flights when you combine travels and travel even partly by land. This is why it is also important to live-stream or record the congress programme to those who wish to travel less but still wish to participate.
Thank you Paula!
Follow Paula on Instagram | Visit IHME website
Spotlight
Spotlight is a new series of short interviews, aiming to showcase the diverse expertise and innovative approaches of our IKT members. Whether you're seeking inspiration or searching for potential partners, join us on this captivating journey as we uncover the stories, ideas, and creative visions of our members.
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