Here and There

As part of the Here and There project, Onur Tayranoğlu takes on the role of the "stranger" in Mänttä-Vilppula, enlisting the help of Mäntän Lukio students to navigate the art city.

Using a fictional narrative as an organizing framework for this two-month endeavor, the project envisions the local high school students as guides leading the stranger through the city. Structured as a community art project, this endeavor takes the form of a performance. It involves weekly performative gatherings with high school students who actively participate in the process, resulting in an installation to share the traces of the performative process.

Drawing from their personal experiences as a queer immigrant artist residing in Finland, Tayranoğlu's visual and performative exploration in "Here and There" delves into the themes of otheredness and strangeness by claiming these positions. They see these positions as a tool to critically approach their own situatedness in Finland, but also their role as artists-in-residence working on a community art project.

The overarching goal of the project is to create a space for meaningful and critical conversations about issues such as otherness, emancipation, community, belonging, and home-making. These conversations occur within performative, play-like settings in which they ask: How can the stranger and the teenagers find a common ground to share tools to contribute to a shared space and a sense of support and understanding?

The installation, made in collaboration with Mäntän Lukio students, will be opened to the public on December 13 at the Serlachius Residency's gallery space in Aleksanterin linna, Mänttä-Vilppula. An informal gathering with the artist and some of the project participants will be held on December 14.

Costume for the project made in collaboration with the visual artist Kolya Kotov.

Pictures from the performance:

Photos: Kolya Kotov, Onur Tayranoğlu and Leea Sultani