Yayoi Kusama + Helsinki + summer 2016

Simons and <a target="_blank" href=https://www.mutualart.com/Exhibition/Yayoi-Kusama---Helsinki---summer-2016/"/Artist/Aija-Svensson/36D559740A72180A">Aija Svensson</a> is an exhibition with both artistic and social goals. The project aims to spark conversations about domestic violence and its consequences. By combining documentary and symbolic strategies it offers a visual and auditory experience that portrays different perspectives and processes of navigating difficult situations.&nbsp; Past Uncovered is a dialogue between the works of the two artists, shedding light on the complex dynamics of violence in close relationships and its impact on individuals and families.</p><p>Simons and Svensson’s works intertwine as two personal, parallel narratives. Letters written by the artists to main characters in their lives serve as a guiding thread in the exhibition. Rebecca’s letter addresses her late grandfather, confronting the sexual abuse he inflicted on her family members. Aija, in turn, responds to a letter she never received—one her mother wrote to her daughters on her deathbed, but which was never found.</p><p>The visual works include photographs, video fragments, and archival footage, presented through prints, projections, and screens. In Rebecca’s narrative, viewers encounter survivors and family members through projection portraits and hear their voices reading letters to or from the perpetrator.&nbsp; Aija’s story unfolds through printed photographs—a mosaic of memories that are both revealed and concealed. The exhibition is enhanced by a sound installation, created in collaboration with composer Viljam Nybacka, which weaves their creations into a unified narrative.</p><p>The exhibition includes an interactive space that invites visitors to share their own experiences in a living archive of letters. Together with crisis worker and educator Oscar Lehtinen the artists also arrange two workshops that allow visitors to explore their relationship with themselves and reshape their narrative through photography and collage techniques.</p><p>Through the Past Uncovered project, the artists aim to uncover hidden truths, foster healing, and spark dialogue around the universal and often silenced issue of domestic violence.</p><p><br></p>" />