Are We There
2019  – ongoing

Are We There investigates migration, memory and the connection between humans and nature. In 1929, a group of Finns set out to Brazil to build a utopian community in the tropics. My great grandparents and their children were among these migrants, whose mission was to live in harmony with nature and to lead a life based on vegetarianism.

The project reflects the histories of today’s world, as well as exploring the concept of utopia and the longing for something distant as a catalyst for human action. Archival photos from my family's album draw connections with light leaks on film, alluding to the material origin of a photograph and to the constructed and illusory nature of representations. At the core of the work lies a performative journey to the old village, where I seek to build a connection with the past by reimagining and reconstructing it. Through rituals that immerse the human body in its environment, I explore the questions of origin, belonging and coexistence.