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The letters OULU in pink in front of Tuira, each decorated in honour of the summer and the year of the Capital of Culture.

Front page › news › ‘I am part of a chain of generations’; Iijoki stories compiled as video works can now be viewed

news

05.12.2023

‘I am part of a chain of generations’; Iijoki stories compiled as video works can now be viewed

Iijoki stories have been collected in art workshops organised in the municipalities along the Iijoki River this autumn. Now the stories have been compiled into municipality-specific video works and published on the Youtube channel of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia. There is also one piece that combines all the stories. In the videos, residents of the municipalities along the Iijoki River of different ages from Kuusamo, Taivalkoski, Pudasjärvi, Iin Jakkukylä and Yli-Ii in Oulu tell about their own relationship with the environment and nature and the significance of Iijoki in their lives.

‘ My family has been living on these shores for a long time. I am part of a chain of generations and feel great gratitude, and it is a valuable thing to be able to live here on the banks of the river Iijoki, in Jakkukylä. This is what the resident of Jakkukylä says in the video.

A total of 236 people participated in the art workshops. The age range of participants was between 3 and 93 years. The participants in Kuusamo included Finnish language students with an immigrant background, seniors and staff at Jokiranta Service Centre in Yli-Ii, Ii, residents of Jakkukylä, a working and day activities group in Pudasjärvi, and young high school students and other residents of Taivalkoski in Taivalkoski. There were also workshops open to everyone.

‘The purpose of artistic work was to awaken the perception and appreciation of the environment in a new way, to become active and to find specific meanings in their own environment. As a result, intermittent community art works were created in local nature and these now published video works", says Niina Aho, one of the team's artists.

The municipalities and their cultural managers have organised their own video release events with the participants in the art workshops. In addition to the videos, environmental artworks were created in the municipalities, such as wind clocks and an exhibition at the Jokiranta service centre.

Art workshops and videos about Iijoki stories were produced Generations along the Iijoki River – the treatment of the relationship between the environment and nature in an art pilot. It is part of the Cultural Cell of the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia - Collaboration and impact on cultural services project. The project is funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture.

Video creators: Description Satu Suvanto and Niina Aho, editing by Niina Aho, soundscape by Satu Suvanto, guitar by Jani Pietilä.

Videos can be found via this link. (284) Cultural Cell Generations along the River Iijoki Art Pilot 2023 - YouTube

Additional information:

Artist Niina Aho, +358 44 318 6968, theatresaga@gmail.com
Artist Satu Suvanto, sasuvant@gmail.com
Auli Suorsa, Senior Specialist, Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia, Project Manager, tel. +358 50 386 8443, auli.suorsa@pohjois-pohjanmaa.fi
Facebook and Instagram #Cultural cell #River Stories
More about the project the Regional Council of Northern Ostrobothnia.

Artwork from Taivalkoski workshop. (Satu Suvanto, Niina Aho).

A wind clock made of natural material at the art workshop. For the clock to function wooden rowing paddle. The wind bell is hung between two pine trees on the banks of the river Iijoki.

Keywords:

River Stories, cultural cell, art, community art

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