June 12-Sept 26, 2021 @ Finland

Helsinki Biennial: The Same Sea – curated by Pirkko Siitari and Taru Tappola.

Giant coral monsters crocheted out of plastic cluster in a chapel-like space at the Helsinki Biennial. Over 18 months during Covid lockdown – from January 2020 to May 2021 – 3000 Finns worked their hooks to collectively crochet a mind-blowing mass of corals out of fiber and recycled plastic. Vast in scale, this outpouring of Nordic creativity has been curated into two installations for Finland’s inaugural biennial, taking place in downtown Helsinki and on Vallisaari island.

Helsinki Biennial 2021:The Same Sea, gathers together 40 international artists and artist collectives whose work reflects on the interconnectedness of humans, non-human beings, and the environment. For the exhibition Crochet Coral Reef creators Christine Wertheim and Margaret Wertheim worked with the people of Finland to create the Helsinki Satellite Reef drawing in participants from far-flung regions of the nation from urban Helsinki to the polar North. Artists, teachers, students, accomplished crafters and novices alike, along with a renowned Finnish designer, contributed over 5000 corals.

Unique to this iteration of the project were four towering Coral Forest sculptures assembled from an epic array of plastic corals commissioned for the Biennial and made entirely from recycled materials. Playful forms both ludicrous and serious, at once evocative of Dr. Seuss and the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, these totemic works draw our attention to the tsunami of plastic trash pouring into the world’s oceans. Chief among the materials used here was 200 kilos of ribbon-like offcuts salvaged from the industrial production of toilet paper packaging.

The Helsinki Coral Forest was co-curated by Margaret and Christine Wertheim along with a quartet of talented local ladies: Lotta Kjellberg, Elina Ahlstedt, Noora El Harouny and Tuija Maija Piironen, aka Team Finland. The works were displayed in an underground ammunition bunker, now repurposed as a location for art.

Exhibition website and photo gallery:
Crochet Coral Reef website.

Exhibition dates: June 12–September 26, 2021.
Location: Vallisaari Island, Finland.