Stoa's theme for 2016 is urban activism. We consider the ways of participation, making a difference, and activism today, together with artists who discuss these themes.
During the year, we will consider urban activism through participation. Our aim is to involve local people in collaborative activities and encourage them to take concrete action to make the local neighbourhood more comfortable, for example.
Examples of the upcoming projects this year
Runoja ilman kotimaata (Poems of no home country)
In keeping with the theme of activism, art performances will also take to the streets. During the Nightingale Month celebrating multilingualism (21 February to 21 March), the series 'Poems of no home country' will take poems in different languages, performed to music from a cello, to an old people's home, a reception centre for refugees, and produce pop-up performances at metro stations in Eastern Helsinki.
Village Festival of the East
Village Festival of the East is an event aimed at everyone and produced by Stoa and various actors in Eastern Helsinki. Village Festival of the East is organised every year in May in the Stoa square. Some well-known bands will play on the stage in the Stoa square. Past performers have included Asa & Band, Ricky-Tick Big Band & Julkinen Sana, Nopsajalka, TCT, Helsinki Cotonou Ensemble, and Brandon. Village Festival of the East is also an activity day, providing an opportunity to meet the local residents. There will be a number of workshops. The purpose of the Village Festival of the East is to bring together the actors, venues and events in the area and to enjoy a shared event.
Visiting activists
In discussions organised in Café Stoa, we will meet activists who, through their own actions, have striven to promote the community spirit and addressed social problems. In the spring, the activists were Maryan Abdulkarim, Jaakko Blomberg and Pauliina Feodoroff. The series will continue in the autumn with visiting activists Saido Mohamed, Liisa Uimonen and Pekka Sauri.
Exhibitions
Urban activism permeates the entire programme of Stoa and is also visible in the exhibitions. In the autumn, recycling, as an example of everyday activism, will be visible in Stoa Gallery in Tikke Tuura's exhibition 'Muovipuutarha' (Plastic Garden), and in the exhibition produced by the Uusix workshop.
Ajattele –Välitä –Uskalla! culture course
Urban activism has also been a theme in art education. In the spring 2016, the schools in Eastern and South-Eastern Helsinki were offered a culture course entitled Think –Care –Dare! In the course, the pupils learnt about decision-makers, ways of making a difference and influential art, and learnt to become active in their own environment through everyday activism.