Kaiho III

This work was created in Finland in 2013 and forms part of the 'Kaiho' series, a video based triptych relating to the concept of the 'kaiho' (Finland's version of saudade or longing for something unobtainable). The idea for the third installment stemmed from an interview with Finnish theatre director, Kristian Smeds, where he talks about his stage version of 'Tuntematon Sotilas' (The Unknown Soldier), originally a book by Väinö Linna. In this article he mentioned that if you want to get a Finn passionate just bring up the Winter War (between Finland and USSR 1939/40), or the 1995 ice hockey championship win over Sweden. In response the artist has segmented the war into the important battles and then remapped them as ice hockey plays for a one-on-one game. This particular section also looks at the similarity in mindsets in and around sport and war, and the nationalism and patriotism stemming from both, but also the personal loss/sacrifice, and the way the Winter War and the '95 ice hockey win have shaped contemporary Finnish culture. With references including war-time speeches by Mannerheim and Churchill; the famous 'ilmaveivi' ice hockey goal scored by Mikael Granlund; the character of Aino from the Kalevala (the Finnish epic), and the 1977 Paul Newman film, 'Slapshot', this work is a faster paced departure from the first two 'Kaiho' films transposing the idea of the 'kaiho' onto nostalgic longing for glories of the past. (oficjalny tekst dystrybutora)