Statuomania

25.1.- 31.5.2025

Statuomania as a name refers to the compulsive need to install public monuments, statues, and sculptures. The name is primarily associated with nationalist projects and the development of nation-states and nation-feelings through various monuments, depictions of great men, and other emblems.

In the Statuomania exhibition the nature of memorials and the processes involved are being reflected. Statues and monuments highlight apparent shared memories. They celebrate important individuals and great victories. Whose history is worth celebrating and immortalizing, who has the right to be seen, and whose memories are heard and taken into account?

The exhibition constructs its own imaginary public space, in which everyone's representation and participation are constantly and equally negotiable. The works in the exhibition can challenge, nurture, and act as an empathic lens, and watching through it we may see the wounds of the past healing and the future appearing more hopeful. They proclaim themselves as monuments and fulfill their mission by creating places for gatherings and communities.

Artists: Sarah-Mecca Abdourahman (CA), Henri Airo (FIN), Benjamin Orlow (FIN/GB), Oskari Ruuska (FIN), Enni Vekkeli (FIN), and Valreza Collective (Tekla Vály and Tereza Holubová, FIN).

Curating: Porin kulttuurisäätö (Anna Jensen, Eliisa Suvanto, and Sanna Ritvanen)