Field trip

Kalle Hamm

3.-4.11.2020
Seili

Artist Kalle Hamm returned to Seili with Taru Elfving to revisit the plants he has been working with and documenting previously in the spring and summer months. Many were already dormant, while the last remaining crowberries held on, waiting to drop and spread their seeds.

Together with Jari Hänninen and Jasmin Inkinen from the Archipelago Research Institute, we also visited the nearby tiny island called Saunasaari, where Douglas firs (native to North America) were planted as an experiment some decades ago. The evergreen trees appeared as if forgotten, huddled closely together on a patch of land in between rocky shores. At some point in the past this may have been a swamp, which was then drained and turned into a field to grow potatoes, for example. Unlike fir trees endemic to these isles, the Douglas firs curiously had no recognisable scent at all.

While exploring the shores of Saunasaari and wondering about the origins of its name (“sauna island”), we got to witness the ghostly sight of one of the huge cruise ships that seem to circulate aimlessly in the archipelago since the beginning of the pandemic.

Photo Taru Elfving.