In October Hippolyte is filled with a strong experience of work. The two video installations by Croatian media artists Nadija Mustapić and Toni Meštrović portray changes in the shipbuilding industry and how the effects of locality and globalisation are present in people’s lives in both Croatia and Finland. The exhibition continues Hippolyte’s collaboration with the Saari Recidence.
Moment of Silence, a five-channel projection in the main exhibition space, was created at shipyards in Split and Rijeka, Croatia. It is an immersive experience of a shipyard, where the hard, everyday work of the labourers is combined with one minute long video portraits. Accompanied by the peal of the machinery a completed ship is set out to sea just like the flow of workers exit the gates at the end of each workday. The viewer is also surrounded by a soundscape that finalizes the experience of a shipyard.
Nadija Mustapić’s video piece, Do I Love My Job?, which she also worked on in the Saari Residence, will première in Hippolyte Studio. It explores work at a shipyard through the eyes of two female welders. One works in Finland and the other in Croatia. Although their experiences of working in a male-dominated industry are largely similar, the local conditions have a huge impact on their work. The question in the title – Do I love my job? – is not directly answered by the two women talking about their work. Instead their stories and opinions drive the viewer into complexities of cause-and-effect definitions, where shipping deals made by multinational companies have an effect locally in both the private lives of their workers and the living conditions of whole towns, or as far as state economies. The topics also feel current during a time where the influence of labour movement can be seen as being undermined in the name of national competitiveness.
In connection to the exhibition Nadija Mustapić and Toni Meštrović will give an ARTIST TALK on Saturday 8 Oct 2016 at 4.30 p.m. During their talk titled ”The social dimensions of de-industrialized urban structures” the artists will present examples of their work, past and present. Read more…
Nadija Mustapić and Toni Meštrović use their art to record social phenomena, and their works combine documenting facts with poetry and experiences of space. In addition to their artistic work, they also teach at the universities of Split and Rijeka. Mustapic and Meštrovic stayed at the Saari Residence in the autumn of 2015.
The Quotas of Pride is a part of a collaboration between Photographic Gallery Hippolyte and the Saari Residence established in 2013. Previously the collaboration has featured exhibitions by Oreet Ashery (UK), Bill Burns (Canada) and Tärähtäneet ämmät (Finland) at Hippolyte. Saari Residence is a residence programme for artists and researchers maintained by the Kone Foundation at Mynämäki, Finland.
7–23 October 2016
NADIJA MUSTAPIĆ & TONI MEŠTROVIĆ
The Quotas of Pride
Photographic Gallery Hippolyte & Hippolyte Studio
Yrjönkatu 8–10 courtyard, 00120 Helsinki, +358 9 612 33 44, www.hippolyte.fi
Opening hours: Tue–Fri 12–5 pm, Sat–Sun 12–4 pm
