SITUATED SELF deals with the importance of finding your place in the world and the ways in which we survive everyday reality and the situations and emotional states it gives raise to. The exhibition was borne out of cooperation between the Nordic countries and the countries of the Western Balkans. In SITUATED SELF, 19 artists examine the power and potential of communication to encounter various values and fears. The works in the exhibition include paintings, installations, video and photographs.

The exhibition is founded on empathy, a manifold concept. In addition to empathy and laughter, the works of art also contain cynicism, a little naivete, a lot of observation and interpretation, a few hard facts and, among all this, a dash of socialism and football. On a more general level, the theme of the exhibition is that no one is a complete outsider – we are a part of a complex, confusing and often painful reality defined by various social, political, historical, economic and psychological factors. The works in the exhibition tell of our common tendency to look at the world from our own point of view or circumstances.

SITUATED SELF is founded on an extensive cultural cooperation programme between the Nordic countries and the countries of the Western Balkans that has taken place in 2003–2005. The programme is entitled Norden–Balkan–Culture–Switch (more information at www.norden.org). The most important Contemporary Art project in the programme is a four-part series of workshops entitled SPEAK UP. They were held in Belgrade in October 2003, in Malmö in May 2004, in Zagreb in October 2004, with the final part in Helsinki in May 2005.

Artists in the exhibition: Art Cup (UK), Matei Bejenaru (Rumania), Albert Braun (Germany/Finland), Phil Collins (UK), A K Dolven (Norway, UK), FinnFemFel (Albert Braun, Marcus Lerviks and Oskar Lindström, Finland), Archi Galentz (Germany), Mads Gamdrup (Denmark), Vlatka Horvat (Croatia/USA), Jytte Høy (Denmark), Siniša Ilić (Serbia and Montenegro), Karsten Konrad (Germany), Jukka Korkeila (Finland), Fanni Niemi-Junkola (Finland), Vladimir Nikolić (Serbia and Montenegro), Serkan Ozkaya & Ahmet Ogut (Turkey), Vesna Pavlović (Serbia and Montenegro), Anri Sala (Albania/France), Annika Ström (Sweden/Germany).

The project has received support from the Nordic Council of Ministers and FRAME, DCA, Swedish Arts Council in Finland, the Arts Council of Finland, British Council and the Goethe institute in Belgrade. The curators of the exhibition are Branislav Dimitrijevic and Mika Hannula.

Guided tours: Guided tours free of charge in Finnish on Wednesdays at 18 o’clock, on Saturdays and Sundays at 14 o’clock and in Swedish on the first and third Sunday of every month at 13 o’clock. To book a private tour at another time or in another language, please call tel. +358 9 310 87003.