RITE OF PASSAGE
Ode to the Baltic Sea
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Reed, Clay, Algae
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2024
Materials and Living Systems
Helsinki
In collaboration with Seo Young Lee,
Saulus Puuko, Jonna Rutanen and
Vladimir Elia Von Arx
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Materials and Living Systems | Helsinki 2024
Guarding the Baltic Sea | Helsinki 2025
Humans’ instinctive reaction to situations of crisis is action, which often takes the form of problem-solving. What can be done to improve the quality of the Baltic Sea? How can we help? Can we even help? As positive as this reaction can be, it can often be overpowering and leave little room to feel and be mindful.
The marine ecosystem of the Baltic Sea is deteriorating and undergoing rapid changes. We wondered how we were able to represent what is gone or dying, and decided to create a space where taking the time to be present and to care for the sea and its inhabitants is encouraged.
For this, we crafted a symbolic funeral ceremony, where death is not an end per se, but another step of the circle of life.
The premiere of our film concluded in a workshop where participants were able to make their own funeral gifts and add them to a raft.