Helsingin sanomat International 29.9.2011
Exhibition at Tampere’s Tullintori mall closes within hours of opening for removal of one of the pieces
Shopping centre shelves work of art that takes critical view of its businesses
Art and commerce clashed in Tampere on Wednesday, and art appears to have come out second best. In a shopping centre in the city, an art exhibition was closed only a couple of hours after its opening.
The Tullintori shopping mall became irritated by a work of art that criticised some of the businesses operating under its roof. The controversial piece also examined the doings of the owner of the Tullintori mall, a company called Citycon.
Artist Teemu Takatalo’s fresco Tiedostavan kuluttajan synninpäästö (”Absolution of the Aware Consumer”) had been painted directly on the wall of the exhibition space, so it was painted over. The exhibition was re-opened later the same evening, with the wall now blank.
The participating artists were confused about the closure of the show.
“A security guard and a man who apparently represented the mall came to chase us out. The door to the space was locked”, explains Valpuri Talvitie, one of the artists of the Antimateria (“AntiMatter”) exhibition.
For his work, Teemu Takatalo had investigated how for example retail chains such as Seppälä, K-Market, and Eurokangas, as well as Citycon itself, adhere to the environmental certifications that they have committed themselves to.
“I studied the subject from many different sources. The piece did not contain any accusations and it was not defamatory. It merely contained normal consumer criticism”, Takatalo explains.
The exhibition was organised by Hirvitalo Centre of Contemporary Art in Pispala.
The initiative for setting up the exhibition came from Tullintori itself, because the mall is currently hosting an event called Kulttuuripäivät (“Culture Days”).
According to shopping centre manager Mari Laaksonen, Takatalo’s work was shelved because criticising businesses operating in the mall seemed inappropriate.
“We do not wish to limit the freedom of speech, but the Culture Days is a marketing event. The point is to evoke pleasant associations and feelings of delight”, Laaksonen explains.
Laaksonen describes Takatalo’s work as “highly critical”.
Still, the motive behind shelving (or rather painting over) the work was not an attempt to hide the environmental violations by Citycon or the other companies.
“I do not claim that we are perfect. However, our sincere aspiration is to move continuously forward.”