Shadow Room
Hakkila Art Village
Maaseudun Sivistysliitto ITE artist of the year 2024 recognition
The Hakkila Art Village project launched by Shadow Room ry, which operates in Hakkila’s Konttikylä, aims to create a community filled with art through community art. Suomen Kotteria enables the creative use of rented spaces and the opportunity to positively and visibly influence the environment. The spirit of the village community and an uncensored atmosphere of freedom prevail in the area. The Hakkila Art Village community was awarded the Maaseudun Sivistysliitto ITE artist of the year 2024 recognition.
Shadow Room Project
Shadow Room ry breaks down the margins of society and culture through events and art. Shadow Room Projects and events discuss the aesthetics of the dark and the interfaces of the dark with warmth; difficult emotions, social challenges, fears and misunderstandings in the middle of a dark-talking world, without pessimism, emotional coldness or unnecessary threats.
When the association was founded, the idea of the opposite of “show rooms” crystallized in the name: a showroom located at the end of a road in poor condition, so that road is not even visible on the map. We didn’t want spotlights, and we didn’t want a commercial show with clichés: the experts know where we are and what the issue is.
Shadow Room ry’s activities are based on a survey that maps ordinary people’s relationship to darkness: “What is the essence of darkness?” / What is the essence of darkness?
We have collected hundreds of perspectives on the essence of the dark from Norway and Finland. Our central observation based on the collected answers is the association of the topic of safety with darkness: “I look for a dark corner in a bar because I’m shy. I don’t want to be seen too much”
Combining darkness and safety is interesting year after year. The combination contains a kind of conflict: can darkness be safe, warm and comforting? Why does the concept of darkness often turn scary, threatening and evil – and when did such a link to our world of thought arise?
