Krista Mikkola enjoying a glass with Erdag Aksel, Selim Birsel and Jernej Skof after being elected as the President of Bjcem.
Krista Mikkola is one of the well-known gallerists ever existed in Finland. Besides that she has done plenty when it comes to visual arts. Mrs. Mikkola has worked for instance in the Artist Association of Helsinki, in Amos Anderson Art Museum and as the coordinator of visual arts in Helsinki Festival, she also has a long career as a curator.
Besides the work for visual arts she has done in Finland, she has a long international career as well. She has worked as a represent of the Nordic arts in Etude Loudmer in Paris and for years she was in the board of Bjcem – Biennale des jeunes créateurs de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée – the European and Mediterranean biennale for young artist. Now for the last two years she has hold a position that is one of the most respected positions a Finn has ever has internationally in visual arts as the president of Bjcem.
I asked Mrs. Mikkola to highlight some occasions during her career which she considers to be milestones for her personally – not meaning that the others are any less important.
– I am happy to have had possibilities to enlarge artists’ visibility. One absolute highlight was the first gallery opening show with Exit Advertising Company in 1984 in Helsinki. The show was unforgettable and gave new breath to Finnish painting. It was executed with the artists Leena Luostarinen, Marika Mäkelä and Silja Rantanen.
Opening the exhibition of Silja Rantanen, Marika Mäkelä and Leena Luostarinen in 1984.
In 1989 we built a 900 m2 gallery at the Cable Factory, Helsinki, with Eeropekka Rislakki – we were a part of creating this factory as one of the cultural actors in Helsinki
I was enormously proud when I was curating an exhibition of Marika Mäkelä at Kunsthalle Basel, together with the photographs of Dennis Hopper in 1988. We build the exhibition together with the legendary director Jean-Christophe Amman. Many Swedish and French friends and collectors came to the opening. I enjoyed very much to produce the exhibition of Ernst Billgren at Kunsthalle Helsinki in 1996 as the visual art coordinator of Helsinki Festival. As well as the exhibition of Christian Boltanski for Helsinki Festival in 1998. With Mr. Boltanski we got acquainted already in the 1980’s when I was living in Paris.
In 2005 we had a great pleasure with Rosa Liksom and Jani Leinonen to have a co-operation with Helsinki Design Week and Eat&Joy and Jyrki Sukula. We created an exhibition at the gallery at Neitsytpolku, Helsinki, with lunch and dinners. 80 lifestyle journalist from all over the world saw it when visiting Finland.
Another dinner to remember was in 2011 when whole Paris was present at the Finnish Institute at a pop-up exhibition with the works of Rosa Liksom, Nanna Susi and Katja Tukiainen which we organized together with the director Marja Sakari.
And we have had unforgettable adventures with Riiko Sakkinen and Katja Tukiainen in Paris, Skopje, Athens and Ljubljana, all the planning sessions during the years in Rome and Ostia with Nanna Susi, and following the work of Melek Mazici in Istanbul and Raija Malka in Lisbon.
In Ljubjana in 2013 with Jernej Skof, Skuc Drustvo, Katja Tukiainen and Riiko Sakkinen.
And then of course the moment at the City Hall of Turin when I realized, that I have just been elected as the president of Bjcem. My head was turning – it was somehow unreal!
Could you tell in a nutshell about Bjcem?
Bjcem is an Association for Mediterranean Biennial, which was founded 2001 in Sarajevo. The biennale was organized for the first time in 1985. The association has 59 members from Europe and Mediterranean, such as ministries, the cultural departments of different cities and artists’ associations. The aim of the association is the mobility of the young artists and to give them possibilities to expose their art professionally. We organize workshops and seminars and have residencies.
And every two years Bjcem has a multidisciplinary biennale for young artists under 35 years old. The executive office of the association is in Turin and we are working together with the cultural department of the city of Turin.
Could you do the same about your work as a president of the biennale?
My duty is to represent the association and the artists, take care of the international contacts, meet the ministries and other authors and represent the association and the biennale in press – that means giving interviews to media. I am also running the board of direction and general assembly meetings. Then we plan all the events together with the general secretary Mr. Emiliano Paoletti.
Even with such an experience you have, in a position like this you must have learned a lot, too?
I believe that each day you learn something new – small or bigger things. During these two years I have been learning so much about multicultural projects and different ways to organize cultural events. Of course I have learned a lot from various cultures. I always try to have as well vertical as horizontal approach, and to respect different cultures.
During the years you have worked with all of the biggest and the hippest artists of the current times in visual arts in Finland. For instance the hottest names of this decade; Jani Leinonen, Riiko Sakkinen, Katja Tukiainen and so on. Who are the names bubbling under them – who are the next artists of who we are talking about and why – hopefully also internationally?
Without giving any names, I can say in generally that in Finland there is many good young artists who would deserve an international attention. One should visit Gallery Huuto, an independent artist collective in Helsinki and the gallery of Finnish Academy of Fine Arts, FAFA, and Helsinki Contemporary to see the young talent we have in Finland!
Besides the Finnish artists, I follow very closely artists from Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and the Maghreb countries.
Opening an exhibition with Nina Mudrinic at Strategie Art Center in Belgrad in 2012.
What do you consider to be the biggest weaknesses considering culture export from Finland?
No long term planning, no budgetary possibilities. It is a shame. There is so many talents.
It should be as well a responsibility and a joy to preserve the Finnish Culture – and export is one excellent way to do it. The Cultural Ministers should defend culture and give the lines to the Ministry. And education in schools should be much wider.
Do you consider that if different forms of arts and creative industries would join their forces more together, could that be one of the key elements for us to be more successful in culture export – and why not inside of Finland as well?
Creative Industries should absolutely join their forces. I am happy to tell you about Teatro a Corte -festival in Turin in July which now in 2014 is focused to Nordic countries. From Finland there are Finnish Dance Information Center and CircusInfo Finland. I act in this project as a curator for Nanna Susi, who has her exhibition at the La Venaria Reale, a former royal residence which is in the UNESCO Heritage List.
For years the life of Krista Mikkola has dived in two cities, Helsinki and Paris and now also in Turin, where the headquarters of Bjcem is located. As the president of Bjcem her life is constantly on the road. She thinks that the whole Europe is her home. But when she gets the chance to stay in Helsinki and in Paris for a bit longer than one night…
I do like to cook and bake and I do like easy home life very much – it balances the travelling. To meet family, friends and colleagues in each city. To have dinners and parties, visit exhibitions and concerts and to watch fashion shows and dance performances. They are happy moments – when gathering with friends around the table.
Text by Hanna Backända
Photos by Krista Mikkola
Culture Export Management 