Finnish writer Rita Dahl has arrived for next 3 weeks

Hello everybody,

I am Rita Dahl, Finnish writer, who just arrived from Malta, from STEAM summer school, which focused solely on scientific communication. I am happy to relax a little bit and to work on my next non-fiction book about Finnish immigrant policy here in silent and calm Kokkola. On my first day, which is today, I went directly to the city library in order to organize a reading there. I also went to grocery store to fill my fridge, as I won't be able to live on Bacardi Mojito only, I brought from Malta. Thus, if you happen to be in Kokkola on 20th July at 13 pm, come to my reading in library! I sent the following press release for some local newspapers. Let's see if anybody get interested in that.

You will hear from my stay here when I have spent few more weeks and experienced maybe some local specialities.


Tiedote

Brasilian luonnonpuistosta Portugalin runouden saloihin

Julkaisuvapaa heti

Haluatko kuulla rahtilaivamatkasta Kap Verdellä, jonka aikana lähes jokainen matkustaja oksentaa tai haikailetko portugalilaisen runouden filkosofisten säkeiden perään? Kirjailija, kääntäjä, toimittaja Rita Dahl esittelee tuotantoaan leppoisassa tilaisuudessa Kokkolan kirjaston Hongell-salissa perjantaina 20.7. klo 13-14.  Hän lukee matkakirjojensa lisäksi omia runojaan ja kääntämäänsä portugalilaista nykyrunoutta. Tilaisuuteen ovat tervetulleita kaikki, ja kysymyksiä saa esittää keskustelun lomassa.

Dahl on kirjoittanut tietokirjan suomettuneesta sananvapaudesta ympäri maailmaa, Suomen kaivospolitiikasta ja hän työstää parhaillaan Suomen maahanmuuttopolitiikkaa käsittelevää tietokirjaa, jota varten on haastatellut tutkijoita, kansalaisjärjestöjen edustajia ja maahanmuuttajia paperittomista virallisen hyväksynnän saaneisiin maahanmuuttajiin.

Dahl on kosmopoliittinen kirjailija, joka on opiskellut portugalin kieltä ja kirjallisuutta Lissabonin yliopistossa ja esiintynyt laajasti Siperiasta Kolumbiaan. Hänen runojaan on julkaistu 18 kielellä.

Wikipedia: Rita Dahl (s. 1971)^[1] on suomalainen kirjailija, kriitikko, kääntäjä ja vapaa toimittaja^[2]. 

Dahl on koulutukseltaan valtiotieteen ja filosofian maisteri sekä medianomi (ylempi korkeakoulututkinto)^[3]. Pääaineinaan hän on opiskellut yleistä valtio-oppia ja kirjallisuustiedettä. Yleisen kirjallisuustieteen pro gradunsa hän teki Fernando Pessoan ortonyymeistä ja heteronyymeistä modernistis-romanttisena myyttinä ^[4] ja valtio-opin pro gradunsa SDP:n ja Kokoomuksen ulko- ja turvallisuuspoliittisesta retoriikasta ryhmäpuheenvuoroissa 1995–2000 ^[5]. Dahl on opiskellut portugalin kieltä Lissabonin klassisessa yliopistossa 2000–2001 ja toimittanut ja kääntänyt ensimmäisen portugalilaisen nykyrunouden antologian Maailman syrjällä.

Dahl on perustanut Neliö-kulttuurilehden ja toiminut Tuli & savu -runouslehden päätoimittajana (2001–2002)^lähde?. Hän on toiminut Suomen Pen-klubinvarapuheenjohtajana vuosina 2006-2009 ja naiskirjailijakomitean vetäjänä 2005–2009. Hän koordinoi ja hankki rahoituksen PENin Keski-Aasia-naiskirjailijakokoukselle, jonka tiimoilta ilmestyi antologia Kyltymätön uuni.^[6][7] Vuotta myöhemmin venäjän- ja englanninkielinen teos Nightingale in a Cage (Iskander 2008), jossa on tekstejä naiskirjailijoilta kaikista Keski-Aasian maista^[8]. 

Dahlin Elämää Lagoksessa ilmestyi venäjäksi Kazakstanissa vuonna 2009 Iskenderin julkaisemana^[9]. Dahlin yksittäisiä runoja on käännetty kahdeksalletoista kielelle ja hän on esiintynyt runsaasti ulkomailla muun muassa Siperiassa, muutamissa Latinalaisen Amerikan ja Afrikan maissa sekä Euroopassa. Hänen runojaan on julkaistu käännöksinä kymmenissä ulkomaisissa kirjallisuuslehdissä ja -antologioissa ^[1].

Dahl on mukana myös oopperayhdistys Fantasiassa. ^[10]

Lisätietoa: Rita Dahl, puh. 0453104571

Leaving Kokkola.

We are ready to leave Kokkola in 3 hours. It has been very nice time in here. We last week was busy, we had Artist Talk in the Nordic Art School and some social time. We are glad we spend this month in Drake Arts Center, it has been successful in our artistic careers, we had so much time for discussions, new ideas, reflections and analyzes.
We enjoyed living in this cozy, little house and also the city, that has changed so much since we came!
Thank you for the great time! Agita and Andris (LV)

                                                    Eagle or hawk?

                                                           Saturday in Pietarsaari.

                                         Luoto

                                          Kokkola by the sea

                                          Kokkola by the sea

                                         Our street without snow

Spring

     It's been two weeks since we - Agita Marackovska and Andris Maracovskis - are in Drake Arts Residency. It has been nice and refreshing time. Sun is shining almost every day and the snow is stepping back every day more and more, and we are lucky to see how the city is changing. Because of the spring air and sun, we have been walking a lot in the city, it looks dynamic and interesting to us. There is always something new to see and explore.
     In Nordic Art School we have a studio. The school looks very cozy and with creative atmosphere. Especially we like the library with good art books. On Wednesdays there are artist talks and it's a nice way to know more about Nordic art and to get to know new artists. On 25th of April also we are going to tell about our works and experiences in art.

                                         Melting snow in our yard

                                         Some studio time

Agita Marackovska & Andris Marackovskis, Latvia

Hi! We are two artists from Latvia and we will stay in Darke Arts Center in April! We work in sculpture, installation and drawings mostly. Before coming here, we spend 3 month in Serlachius residency, Mänttä, Finland. There we have been working on our project Discipline, the idea was to create huge amount of new ideas for three themes - Nature, Human and City. We also had ceramic workshop there and an exhibition at the end of our stay. Now we are here and our plan is to continue with the same spacious themes, combine all three together and expand ideas for future exhibition.

More about our works: http://www.agitamarackovska.com/
http://www.andrismarackovskis.com/

 1.4.2018. Easter eggs! First day in Kokkola.

 Andris working on some sketch!

 Finnish spring on frozen sea! 1.4.2018.

1.4.2018. "Our" street.

Feeding your inspiration

Kokkola allows one to get completely immersed in their work because it is just so peaceful and comforting here! I have found it really easy to get lost in my drawing, painting, and writing. There were some moments where I actually had to force myself to take a break. Those times have been really precious for me as it allowed me to get out of my bubble, meet some people who live here and to participate in some local activities.

One day I found myself in front of Martta so I walked in and asked them what courses they have to offer. I enrolled myself in a cooking course with five other lovely ladies. We made numerous delicious dishes together using local fish and produce. Making a five course meal was easier than I expected :).

Meri Linna, Nordic Art School's Director, was very kind to have invited me to join Katri Aalto's three day Hatha yoga workshop. With this workshop I could recharge from the week and make space for more goodness to be let in. Balance was gratefully restored.

As one thing led to another, when I told Lauri Skantsi that I would like to meet some teachers to make Dear You with, he put me in touch with Auli Palosaari.  She is a classroom and art teacher at Mäntykankaan Ala-aste.  We hit it off immediately and hope to create an exchange together in the future!  Auli also has a love for handmade paper as it is a great form to recycle and reuse materials in a practical way.  Here she is teaching me how to make paper.

It wouldn't be a complete trip without avanto aka ice swimming. As coincidence has it, Auli's son and his girlfriend were going to the local ice hole at Palma. It was an extra special Saturday night as it Earth Hour. The nice people of Avantouintiseura Kuutit lined the snow covered path with candles and made a really beautiful environment for you to withstand the freezing cold wind on your naked body. Crazy, but so good. So good.

I didn't get a chance to see Revontuli on this trip, but I should save something for when I return! My projects are well underway thanks to the creative setting and group in Kokkola.

Arlene in translation

It is about half way into my three week residency in Kokkola and every day has been full of surprises. Surprises in the sense that, I discover something totally new or something has been reawakened inside of me. Maybe it is Spring doing its job, but there hasn't been a dull moment thus far. Despite the peaceful surroundings of white, wood, and frozen water, there are many things happening in this quaint town. If you take the time to look under a snow pebble you will find many things awaiting you!

I came here with the intention to work on Let it Out, the next phase of Translation is Dialogue, which will be made in collaboration with Prison Outside. That has been going very well as I have had time every day in the studio to plan and think of different approaches on how to make art exchanges between young people living in juvenile detention centers in Finland with youngsters in a similar situation in Russia. Our aim is to open dialogue between the participants and to create space for their stories to be heard. Through letter writing and talking on the phone, I have been able to share and develop these ideas with Anastasia Artemeva, the creator of Prison Outside.

Painting, letter writing, and reading always get me in the mood to create.

Another surprise was when Let it Out got a last minute invitation to speak at the conference, New challenges in the sphere of deviant (destructive) behaviour of minors. I made a presentation focusing on 'How art exchange can open dialogue between different groups of people'. Projects such as Prison Outside, Translation is Dialogue and Dear You were shared as examples.

My lovely new home turned into a living room for the psychologists in Russia to sit around my kitchen table virtually.

Seeing that my projects often involve making art with children and young adults, I asked Stina Kangasvieri about who I could contact about collaborating with local schools. She directed me to Lauri Skantsi, K.H. Renlund Museum's curator. He just so happened to be giving school workshops that week, which I was able to join. This workshop series was called 'Kaupunkikuva Muutoksessa'. It was wonderful to see the different ways the students could think about the past, present, and future of Kokkola. The students could write, draw, and/or build their ideas using blocks, which allowed the participants to find a medium that best fits their form of self-expression. The workshop was in conjunction with the current photograph exhibition, which created a beautiful bridge for the students to be inspired by the artworks and be active in the space.

Keeping on with the surprises- I had no idea Kokkola had an outsider's art museum called ITE-museo! I had the good fortune to see the current exhibition titled 'Pienoiskoossa Miniatyrformat'. The best part was I got a special tour of the exhibition with Elina Vuorimies and got to hear first hand from Mauri Rönni, one of the participating artists who came for the opening.

Rikhard Koivisto 

Johannes Ivakko, Kuljetuslaiva Rahtisaima, 1955-85. Meri Westlin, Käspaikat, 2011-18.

Tapani Kokko, Ihanat naiset laudalla, 2018.

Timo Vattulainen

From the warm woolly socks Stina presented to me upon arrival to now, I have felt very welcome and extra creative here at Drake Arts Centre. Thank you! Isoja kiitoksia!

Hej!
My name is Marlet, I am a painter from Leipzig, Germany, and I am here in the residency for three weeks. My plan ist to make a lot of drawings during my time in Kokkola. Soon I will show some here in this blog.