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Kuvasto

Same Sky and Cloudscapes, Color Human Mobile, Farewell – Beautiful Leave-taking Attire for the Departed

Maiju Ahlgrén

Kontulan palvelukeskus, Kontukuja 5, 00940 Helsinki

Indoor Sculpture

This work by Maiju Ahlgrén (b. 1965, Helsinki) consists of three parts. The ideas were developed with employees of the Kontula Service Centre to make sure the piece would fit the everyday routines of the facility. Color Human Mobile consists of 160 pairs of aprons of different hues. Each employee belonging to the nursing staff had an apron made for them in their favourite colour. Worn by the staff, the aprons provide changing colour vistas in the group homes, just like a colour mobile, the colours changing as the next shift arrives to work. Positive proverbs or maxims, chosen by the wearer, were embroidered on the apron pockets to introduce ideas to be considered, remembered and cherished. When the aprons are too worn out for use, the aphorisms can be detached and framed to be hung on the walls of the apartments.

The Room of Quiet in the service centre is a non-denominational space for religious observation where services can be performed. Ahlgrén painted a work for the space with a view of the sky, entitled Same Sky. According to her, looking up into the sky is a collective activity everywhere in the world. Events in the heavens can also serve as emblems of the viewer’s emotions. The blue sky in the painting becomes a symbol of freedom and open mental space, but it can also be seen as a metaphor of impermanence. The antechamber of the Room of Quiet contains a series of three smaller paintings that depict clouds.

The third component in Ahlgrén’s installation is Farewell – Beautiful Leave-taking Attire for the Departed. The work creates a setting for a ceremony of tucking the deceased into their bed for the last time. Ahlgrén included a special covering to be pulled over the deceased person’s face, giving them privacy and shelter from prying eyes. The same cloth can also be used when the body is removed from the ward and also to cover the coffin in the funeral service.

The work was produced under the Percent for Art programme. The paintings belong to the collection of the City of Helsinki, managed by HAM Helsinki Art Museum.

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