Treat by Anna Maria Häkkinen and Maija Mustonen is an artwork on caring touch : a virtual discussion with the two artists behind the piece Treat, Maija Mustonen and Anna Maria Häkkinen, and the curator of A I S T I T / coming to our senses, Satu Herrala happened on Thursday, May 20 at 7 pm.
Alongside Häkkinen and Mustonen, the working group includes artists Sofia Palillo and Masi Tiitta, and it emerges gradually from the period of the pandemic isolation and from the sensibilities brought by distance. Häkkinen and Mustonen have both done several works together with a focus on touch and care. They are drawn to what is possible when a caring touch takes place in the context of art. The ceremony of touch is a way for them to seek connection and co-existence as well as to treat caring acts and touch with elevated dignity.
The complete work including live performance by Häkkinen and Mustonen was to be premiered in March at the Maison Louis Carré and the Institut finlandais in Paris. Instead, a video work will be shown during the exhibition at Maison Louis Carré. Live performances will however take place at the Kunsthalle in Helsinki in August-September.