The Itäharju district, located close to downtown Turku, is a mix of residential areas, office towers, manufacture and supermarkets. Itäharju is traditionally organized around the Kalevantie road, which cuts through the area. On one side of the road, a verdant and diverse neighbourhood, on the other side boxy commercial buildings and their parking lots.
Daniel Hahta (born 1994) from Turku moved to Itäharju in 2001 and began producing landscape images of the area. Dozens of images have been born. Itäharju is the subject of all the artworks, but Hahta creates the landscapes based on his personal perception. They are imaginary views of Itäharju, with steep rolling hills and waterfalls. Itäharju is depicted largely unbuilt and open, featuring just a few small houses.
Hahta’s expression is sparse and sleek. He works with black calligraphy markers on paper. His expression is diverse when it comes to composition and perspective: there’s several viewpoints of the same vista, or variation of proportions. Simultaneously, the drawings are very detailed and observed at a distance. The drawings are a kind of fragmented cartography of Itäharju, conveying the structure of the landscape. Daniel Hahta’s exhibition explains how to conquer Itäharju with a pen and turn it into the artist’s mindscape.
Daniel Hahta’s exhibition incorporates marker drawings of various sizes, as well as a few earlier mosaic pieces. Hahta used to work with watercolors and mosaics, but has since switched to marker drawing. Hahta has been working at Taidekeskus Into since 2008.
Gallery Into
The mission of Galleria Into is to showcase outsider art!
The gallery is a collaboration project between the Taidekeskus Into association and Aboa Vetus Ars Nova Museum. The project will run from April 2023 until January 2024. It will include five solo exhibitions in the museum’s second-floor gallery, by artists working at the Into art centre. The exhibition concept has been named Galleria Into, which translates into “Gallery Enthusiasm”.
Taidekeskus Into
Taidekeskus Into provides art activities and visual arts education for people with special needs. Founded in 2009, the centre is in Pompo, Turku. Taidekeskus Into offers regular art classes and courses and hosts several artist studios and public community art projects.
Taidekeskus Into lives up to its name: it is a vibrant community that operates freely and professionally. The activities are guided by a view of art that allows everyone to be seen and heard in their own way.
“It means a lot. Really a lot. How should I describe it… Really very much. It’s everything.”
What does art mean to you? –Viljo Pertola-
Aboa Vetus Ars Nova
Cooperation with the museum was initiated by Taidekeskus Into. Art tutors and long-time Into activists Eija Ruoho and Sinikka Mäki-Lertola invited museum curator Niina Tanskanen to visit the centre, which quickly led to the idea of exhibition cooperation.
The two parties share a desire to do something different. For the museum, it is a great honor to provide the venue for the exhibitions that Into has been working on for years. Cooperation with Into also aims to make outsider art part of the wider art field. But the best thing about the collaboration is the exhibitions themselves: these five artists’ works are truly worth experiencing!
Gallery Into exhibitions
28.4.–7.6.2023 Miira Kangas
16.6.–26.7.2023 Tiina Elina Nurminen
4.8.– 17.9.2023 Daniel Hahta
29.9.– 19.11.2023 Miia Ruohonen
8.12.– 14.1.2024 Viljo Pertola
More information
Niina Tanskanen
curator
niina.tanskanen@avan.fi
040 585 4499
Taidekeskus Into
Eija Ruoho
044 070 1544
taidekeskusinto@gmail.com
www.taidekeskusinto.com
