PHOTOGRAPHIC GALLERY HIPPOLYTE
Kalevankatu 18 B, 00100 Helsinki, Finland
+358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi
Open: Tue-Fri 12:00-17:00, Sat-Sun 12:00-16:005–28 March 2010
Sanni Seppo
THE ALLOTMENTPanel discussion WILD SPACES AND WASTELAND, Wednesday, 10 March 2010, at 5 pm (discussion in Finnish)
Photographer Sanni Seppo discusses creative urban space with Outi Alanko-Kahiluoto, MP and member of the Helsinki City Council, and Hille Koskela, researcher at the Academy of Finland.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -"Allotment gardeners are a breed apart. They want to be in contact with nature and to do things with their hands. As soon as the snow melts in the spring, they start visiting their allotments, fixing things and smelling the soil. The reason for gardening is not the crop, it is a thing of the heart."
There are 70 allotment areas in the Helsinki Metropolitan Region with hundreds of allotments rented out by various societies to people in Helsinki. The popularity of allotment gardening is growing steadily, and the proportion of immigrants among gardeners has also grown rapidly in recent years. Allotments are generally about one acre in size, and the annual rent is a few dozen euros.
Although allotments are not private property, they become personal, intimate spaces with invisible walls separating them from the neighbour's acre. Allotment gardening can be communal, but it also provides solitude, peace and privacy. For nearly all gardeners, the material benefits are unimportant, the reasons for gardening are spiritual. Tending the allotment is therapy, relaxation, an opportunity to be creative, a way of life, a place to unwind in the midst of city bustle, and so on. For people not in the world of work, it gives a sense of purpose in life, a bond to community and prevents exclusion.
Sanni Seppo has photographed allotments since 2004 and has also interviewed the gardeners. Seppo herself has had an allotment in Helsinki for 20 years.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Sanni Seppo: Palsta (Maahenki, Helsinki 2010)
Hardcover, perfect bound, 168 pages, texts by Auli Leskinen, Mari Räsänen & Sanni Seppo, ISBN 978-952-5652-86-4
The book will be on sale during the exhibition in Hippolyte at a special price of 26 euro.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -Sanni Seppo (b.1960) uses photography as a primarily social and documentary instrument. Her work showcases individuals who live in the own way amidst the pressures of social situations. The relationship between humanity and nature has been a main theme in her work.
Sanni Seppo's most notable solo exhibitions have been The Rise and Fall of Racism (1992), On the Edge of the Cliff (1999) and City Gardens (2006). She has also participated in several group exhibition in both Finland and abroad. Her previous photographic books include Artejuela (1989) depicting life in a Spanish occupied village, Unelmat ja ruosteinen arki (Dreams and Rusty Life, 1992) about people who are searching for alternative lifestyles, and Jyrkänteen reunalla (On the Edge of a Cliff, 1999) presenting everyday heroes from Mexico.
She has collaborated with photographer Ritva Kovalainen since the early 1990s, resulting in award-winning works such as the book and exhibition Tree People (1997 and 2006), an exhibition (2003) and a film (2007) entitled Sateenkaarenpää (Rainbow's End), and the book Metsänhoidollisia toimenpiteitä (Silvicultural Operations, 2009). The Tree People project was awarded the Finland Prize for photography in 1998, and Metsänhoidollisia toimenpiteitä received the literature prize of the Fine Arts Society of Finland in 2009.
For more information and press images, please contact:
Sanni Seppo, Eki and Elvi , 2009
Petronella Grönroos, exhibition co-ordinator / Photgraphic Gallery Hippolyte +358 9-612 33 44, firstname.lastname@hippolyte.fi
