Symposium: At the Edges of Knowledge

6.-8.11.2024
Seili

The symposium At the Edges of Knowledge gathered together a multidisciplinary group of researchers in Seili to reflect on the significance of and transformations in fieldwork in their different areas of scientific and artistic practice. Starting from the longterm environmental monitoring and study at the Archipelago Research Institute, the symposium participants brought into the discussions a range of perspectives and methodologies from marine biology, nature conservation and restoration, place-based and site-sensitive artistic and curatorial research. The island guided the exchanges that took place mainly out on the meadows and rocky shores, the lively field(s) of the shared research practices.

The symposium launched CAA’s new research on the changing meanings, methods and potentials of fieldwork as part of the emergent Undisciplinary Institute for Art and Ecology. The presentations and discussions will be edited and published as fieldnotes. They also lay the ground for future events and, eventually, a collection of articles.

The participants and contributors to the symposium: Taru Elfving and Lotta Petronella (CAA), Jari Hänninen, Katja Mäkinen, Marjut Rajasilta, and Ilppo Vuorinen (Archipelago Research Institute, University of Turku), Anna Törnroos-Remes (Centre for Sustainable Ocean Science SOS, Åbo Akademi), Maija Mussaari (ELY-center), Ros Gray (Centre for Art & Ecology, Goldsmiths University of London, UK), Mark Peter Wright (CRiSAP, University of the Arts London, UK), Helena Hunter (Nottingham Trent University & Scottish Association of Marine Science, UK), Lucy Davis (Arts and Media, Aalto University), Daniel Peltz (Academy of Fine Arts, University of the Arts Helsinki), artist Arja Renell.

The symposium was organised as part of the public programme of the exhibition At the Edges of Knowledge, with the support of the Art Promotion Centre Finland and Niilo Helandar Foundation.