War is a Disaster,
2017 - 2024
War is a Disaster, is a long-term research project that examines how a collective memory of war is maintained and reproduced within Finnish society through media, rituals and upbringing.
It is no stretch to describe Finland, a country where over 70% of men in each age group receive formal military training and 84% of the public are willing to commit to armed struggle in the case of an invasion, a militarised society. As one of the final countries in Europe to hold on to a conscription-based military system, all male citizens in the nordic republic are legally obligated to a period of military service lasting between 6 to 12 months. Upholding this culture is an array of narratives, myths and trauma related to the Winter and Continuation Wars, which were fought between Finland and the Soviet Union from 1939-1944. Both wars ended in Finnish defeat, but are commemorated in national ceremonies as decisive moments that secured the independence of the Finnish state from Russia.
For those without who’ve not lived through it, historical wars remain obscure events that challenge and defy imagination. Visual culture serves as a means of imagining and identifying with past conflict. In Finnish society, the image of war is significantly defined by the depictions of a series of iconic war films produced from the late 1980’s onwards. In films such as The Winter War (1989), The Road to Rukajärvi (1999), and Tali-Ihantala 1944 (2007), Finnish soldiers are often portrayed as conflicted and victimised, but their heroism and conviction remain unquestionable.
Approaching these social questions through image-making and archival research, the project combines photographs made between 2017-2024 at memorial rituals and museums with historical propaganda images collected from the Finnish Army Image Archive and vernacular images selected from my private family albums. The project weaves these images together with an array of archival records, from war film pre-production documents and news media clippings to reports relating to my personal history and conscription service.
A central theme in War is a Disaster, is the relationship between national memory and militarism. Historical consciousness becomes discernible in glimpses, such as the gestures of players in a war game spontaneously re-enacting death in combat, or in the sequence of photographs that a costume designer chooses to make on the set of his war film.
“War is a Disaster,” has been produced with support from The Finnish Cultural Foundation, The Foundation for the Advancement of Journalistic Culture, Kimmo Kaivanto Foundation and Arts Promotion Center Finland. Material for the work has been collected from archives of The National Library, The Finnish Army Image Archive, The National Audiovisual Institute of Finland and multiple private museums. Part of the work has been undertaken during a residency at Öres Residency Program.
It is no stretch to describe Finland, a country where over 70% of men in each age group receive formal military training and 84% of the public are willing to commit to armed struggle in the case of an invasion, a militarised society. As one of the final countries in Europe to hold on to a conscription-based military system, all male citizens in the nordic republic are legally obligated to a period of military service lasting between 6 to 12 months. Upholding this culture is an array of narratives, myths and trauma related to the Winter and Continuation Wars, which were fought between Finland and the Soviet Union from 1939-1944. Both wars ended in Finnish defeat, but are commemorated in national ceremonies as decisive moments that secured the independence of the Finnish state from Russia.
For those without who’ve not lived through it, historical wars remain obscure events that challenge and defy imagination. Visual culture serves as a means of imagining and identifying with past conflict. In Finnish society, the image of war is significantly defined by the depictions of a series of iconic war films produced from the late 1980’s onwards. In films such as The Winter War (1989), The Road to Rukajärvi (1999), and Tali-Ihantala 1944 (2007), Finnish soldiers are often portrayed as conflicted and victimised, but their heroism and conviction remain unquestionable.
Approaching these social questions through image-making and archival research, the project combines photographs made between 2017-2024 at memorial rituals and museums with historical propaganda images collected from the Finnish Army Image Archive and vernacular images selected from my private family albums. The project weaves these images together with an array of archival records, from war film pre-production documents and news media clippings to reports relating to my personal history and conscription service.
A central theme in War is a Disaster, is the relationship between national memory and militarism. Historical consciousness becomes discernible in glimpses, such as the gestures of players in a war game spontaneously re-enacting death in combat, or in the sequence of photographs that a costume designer chooses to make on the set of his war film.
“War is a Disaster,” has been produced with support from The Finnish Cultural Foundation, The Foundation for the Advancement of Journalistic Culture, Kimmo Kaivanto Foundation and Arts Promotion Center Finland. Material for the work has been collected from archives of The National Library, The Finnish Army Image Archive, The National Audiovisual Institute of Finland and multiple private museums. Part of the work has been undertaken during a residency at Öres Residency Program.
Book
The book is published by UTU Press, you can email me for a signed copy or buy it through:
UTU Press
Hippolyte Gallery
Tekstin talo
Nide
Valokuvakeskus Nykyaika
Exhibitions
Art Center Mältinranta
21.9. - 15.10.2024
21.9. - 15.10.2024
Hippolyte Korjaamo
14.6. - 10.8.2024
Helsinki, Finland
14.6. - 10.8.2024
Helsinki, Finland
