Blogi – Sivu 36 – Villa Karo

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Syksyn ensimmäiset tunnelmat

Syksyn ensimmäisillä stipendiaateilla on nyt runsas viikko takanaan Villa Karossa. Tässä arkkitehti Essi Käpin ja monitoimitaiteilija Yrjänä Sauroksen ensitunnelmia:

Mitä tulit tekemään Villa Karoon?
Yrjänä: Tulin ennen kaikkea puuhailemaan kaikenlaista paikallisten kanssa. Otin myös kehittämäni saurofonin mukaan. Se on vielä arvoitus, mitä sen kanssa tulee tapahtumaan. Haluan, että paikalliset pääsevät tutustumaan siihen. Minulla on kaksi toivetta: musiikkiesitykset, joita haluan tehdä paikallisten muusikkojen kanssa. Itse laulaisin ja soittaisin kitaraa. Toinen toiveeni on, että paikalliset pääsisivät soittamaan saurofonia, sillä se on jokaisen kodin ”must-juttu”.
Essi: Tulin katsomaan miten täällä eletään, asutaan ja rakennetaan. Kokemusteni pohjalta pitäisi ideoida rakennus, joka täyttäisi tietyt ekokriteerit. Ja nimenomaan paikalliset ekokriteerit. Tulin siis tutkimaan ekologisen suunnittelun lähtökohtia Länsi-Afrikassa.

Miten projektisi on lähtenyt käyntiin?
Y: Ihmisten kanssa on helppoa ja kaikki ovat erittäin innostuneita. Jos omat projektini eivät ole lähteneet käyntiin, niin syytän itseäni.
E: Tosi hyvin. Olen jo päässyt aloittamaan joitakin materiaalikokeiluja. Avoimin mielin!

Vaikutelmasi Grand-Poposta?
Y: Täällä asuu kultaisia ihmisiä. Rahaa ei ole paljon, mutta ihmiset ovat kultaa.
E: Tosi hyvät. Ihmiset ovat uteliaita, mutta silti tuntuu, että suomalaiset ovat heille tuttuja. Helppo liikkua ja kylä on kiva!

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Thank you, Florent!

ILOMANTSI. I’m afraid I have some disappointing news. The first ever world champion of bear sculpting isn’t traveling back to Benin now that the competition is over. Florent’s workmanship was largely appreciated – both by the jury and the public – but the jury decided to give the first prize to a Finnish chainsaw sculptor who demonstrated astonishing skill in describing the movement of the bear in a statue.

The first three prizes were awarded to:

1) Esko Heikura, Finland, 1500 euros

2) Erkki Rytkönen, Finland, 1000 euros

3) Silver Treiman, Estonia, a set of protective workwear

Congratulations, winners!

Ms Helka Ketonen, member of the Jury, and cultural director of MSL gave thanks to Florent’s original idea about a hibernating bear and African perception of the Finnish national animal. Florent’s concentration and working technique also earned thanks, said madame la directrice.

Florent is leaving Finland in a couple of days with lots of new contacts in his phonebook and a few new skills in his pocket. “I’ll start using a chainsaw in my work. It’s very interesting. I’m also happy about all the new contacts I have”, he told VK reporters on the way back from Ilomantsi. He is looking forward to continue sharing with his European peers via Internet.

And what does Florent think about Finland? ”The trees is Finnish forests are very straight and growing in clear lines”, he says. ”It’s like Finnish people. Everything is straight and well organized, things have their own places.”

Along with new sculpting skills and contacts, Florent is bringing back home an experience of Finland. Here, up north, the air is fresh and working outside is very consuming. For this reason, one of Florent’s new experiences includes munkkikahvit, coffee&donut, a Finnish institution almost as important as the hot sauna. With the help of munkkikahvit, skill and artistic vision he finished his work and built a long-lasting Beninese monument in Ilomantsi. Florent’s Le Rêve Puissant will be displayed there every summer for years to come.

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A Log of Scots Pine in Beninese Hands

Miikka Pörsti reports from Ilomantsi:

“I hear it’s louder here now than during the Winter war”, said member of the jury and outsider artist Eero Pulkki as the Bear sculpting championships had just begun in the keskusta of Ilomantsi, 10am this morning. Many of the 32 competitors are using chainsaws. However, some of them, like Beninese competitor Florent Nagoba, scholarship holder for VK and the Union for Rural Education and Culture, work with their handmade custom tools.

Estonian sculptor colleague Raivo inquired if Florent’s instruments had been made the same way as the Sampo. Yes, his tools are an accomplishment of a very skilful blacksmith (taitava seppä in Finnish, kvalifitseeritud sepp in Estonian). But unfortunately, for both Finns and Estonians, the Sampo has been destroyed a very long time ago. As the picture tells, talk of this tragedy devastated both competitors. To not unnecessarily darken the moods of the sculptors, the VK media team left the premises to enjoy a cup of coffee and a delicious vatruska in the nearby coffee shop.

Nevertheless, the competition is now on and our cheering thoughts are with Florent, proud son of Benin, who competes as number 24 until Saturday morning. By then his artistic vision and gifted hands will have turned a large log of scots pine into a bear.

Stay tuned.

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Natural Mathematics and the Number 24

ILOMANTSI. Several gunshots have been fired in the forests surrounding Ilomantsi during the last 24 hours and at least seven casualties have been reported. One more soul is destined to leave behind its earthly vessel before ceasefire. Probably by dusk, the blood of one more will have been spilled into the rich soil of North-Karelia – and Ilomantsi’s killing quota filled.

It is the never-ending struggle between man and bear taking place once again, as it does every autumn in Finland. For those worried about the county’s bear population, let us remind you that there are some 200 adult bears plus from 1 to 4 baby bears per bear mother living on Ilomantsi’s grounds (3172km2).

Ilomantsi’s hunting quota of eight bears this year is excellent news for VK and MSL scholarship holder Florent Nagoba who competes under the number 24. Why is that? It’s simply because of the magic of the number three. Aha! Three times eight equals 24. This is a very simple case of natural math practiced daily in VK. Let us now present you some hard evidence behind this calculation.

Tools and Coovi — Akasia reporting team counted over 90 circles on this piece of log that comes from the same pine that Florent is carving. It means that the tree is over 90 years old.

Three is of course an important divine number in many worldviews. It is present i.e. in the Christian trinity, the Hindu Trimurti and the three layers of the ancient Finnish mythical cosmology.

And there is also the so-called rule of Three in story-telling and writing. This rule implies that three is good and three is nicely unstable and that whenever there’s a three, something is bound to happen. Ceasar’s famous line veni, vidi, vici, The Three Musqueteers by Alexandre Dumas and Goldilocks and the Three Bears are well-known examples of this truth.

All this evidence presented to you is to describe the good story we are all living in today in Ilomantsi (except for the eight bear casualties, of course). Florent is working side by side with colleagues from Finland, Italy, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary and Russia. There’s lots of laughter and sharing: “Here, try this tool of mine!”, “Hey, could I see some pictures of your work?”, “Sure, thanks, kiitos, grazie, akpe, spasiba!”

In a couple of days, at noon on Saturday, when the competition will end, we will know the ending of the story. Here, we know it’s going to be good, whatever happens.

Today we’ll let Florent concentrate on his work, but before that we’ll to ask him how are things this fine North-Karelian afternoon.

“Ça va!”, he says with a smile.

Sourire — Florent’s first name is Coovi as he has been born on a Friday. We nicknamed his log Coovi, too. Coovi is a fine gentleman that is over 90 years old.