Camp Underground
Last week my emails finally materialized into Camp Underground. Artists from Petrozavodsk to Tromsø arrived in Oulu to meet each other and to brainstorm and work ideas for cross-border collaboration in the north. There was twelve of us, a good amount for conversation.
During the week our workshops and conversations rolled around underground art, money and collaborating in the Barents area. With gentle guidance by Marlene Hyyppä, we visualized these subjects into our own zine on the walls of Bingo.
Actually, we ended up doing quite a lot of walls...
From the start of the week it turned out, that the artist led places that were hosted at the Camp; Bingo, Kurant and Selektor are about to loose their walls in the near future. Culture association Valsa from Rovaniemi had to give up their event space a while ago. They are now only renting workspaces for the artists. Loosing places like Valsas in the North is very unfortunate. The effects multiply hundredfold. A vibrant city needs spaces where people can meet and stay proactive from their own standpoints. Enforced consumerism just isn't enough for a good life. This is why it is important for us, artists across the Barents region, to work together and learn from each other. That's how we can bring more value to our personal work. That's how we'll make the value of our work more visible and audible to our local community.
I now got to meet these artists for the first time. I'm already looking forward to our collaboration.
Producer, artist Tiina Pehkonen
