MARCIO
CARVALHO
A Meeting in Turku in 2015/16/17...
This project examined and acted upon the monument A Meeting in Turku in 1812 (situated beside Aura river, Turku), its implementation in 2012 and its ability to commemorate, once again - after Finland's 100 years of independence - the influence that two powerful countries – Russia and Sweden - had over their smaller neighboring country – Finland. The project proposed to create and install a new, permanent, counter-monument in the city of Turku. The objective was to create a physical space in the city where Turku citizens can contest the past and actively retrieve their shared history.
A Meeting inTurku in 2015/16/17/18... projected a 3rd chair as counter-monument. To contradict the idea of power that resides on both royal chairs of the original monument Carvalho aimed to cast in bronze a wooden chair, which could represent any Turku citizen, from any nationality. After 4 years of work the project didn't went further and the counter-monument was not implemented. Officials argued that they were afraid of a diplomatic conflict between the 2 nations.
A Meeting in Turku in 2015/16/17... was a project made in collaboration with the New Performance Turku Festival, curated by Leena Kela and Christopher Hewitt.
