Significant (in Finland)

Delighted and Excited to Announce that today Museum of Impossible Forms is the recipient of Tutkijaliitto-palkinto, the Annual award from the Finnish Association of Researchers. The award is “given to a person/organisation whose practical and/or conceptual work has recently been politically significant (in Finland).”

We are happy to recieve this award and the recognition of having made some kind of a dent within the Finnish Art and Cultural Scene in Helsinki and Finland.

We would also like to thank the several members of Museum of Impossible Forms, who have worked in various visible but often invisible capacities, held each other together and pulled M forward, who have argued critically, supported unconditionally, been proud of us and made it possible for us to push the limits of ‘what is possible’. In case you dont know who we are talking about, they are Ahmed Al-Nawas, Raine Vasquez, Vidha Saumya, Vishnu Vardhani Rajan, Heidi Hänninen, Marianne Savallampi, Ali Akbar Mehta, Selina Väliheikki, Sergio Castrillon, Danai Anagnostou, Christopher Wessels, Christopher Thomas, Zahrah Ehsan, Soko Hwang, Giovanna Esposito Yousif, David Muoz, and our newest members Soko Hwang, Zahrah Ehsan, Martta Tuomaala and Elena Näsänen.

Apart from thanking ourselves, we would also like to thank the various Insurgents, Citizens and Untitled Bodies – the artists, performers, musicians, filmmakers, speakers, lectureres, curators, philosophers, critical thinkers, policy workers, pedagogists, workshoppers, archivists, collectives, organisations – who have partnered with us, worked with us, collaborated with us, and who have simply graced us with their presence and their work. We are super grateful for the oppurtunity and the priviledge of having met and experienced the work of some of the most radical, offbeat, underground, and amazing people and their work.

In 2019, these were:

Linnea Saarits, Inari, Jack Halberstam, Ubuntu Film Club (Alice Mutoni, Fiona Mushonga & Rewina Teklai), Jakub Bobrowski, Silvana Bahia, ARMA Alliance (Leonardo Custodio and Monica Gathuo), Hami Bahadori, Pedra Costâ, Ana Teo Ala-Ruona, Support Structures Collective (Katie Lenanton, Neicia Marsh, Orlan Ohtonen & Selina Väliheikki), veiculoSUR (Andrea Arobba, David Muñoz, Maëlys Meyer, Marcela Olate, Mario Lopes & Thaïs Ushirobira), Ana Guestica, Nicolina Stylianou, Огни, Gergoire Rousseau, Linda Lazarov, Jan Lutjohann, Pixelache (Saša Nemec, Steve Maher, Vishnu Vardhani & Alan Bulfin), Derek Holzer, Salla Sariola, Eva Bakkeslett, Mark Drifter, RabRab Press, Sezgin Boynik, Arvind Ramachandran, Outi Pulkinnen, Jaak Sikk, The Laconian Improv, Katri Tikka, Eeneri Solehmainen, Myrtti Lehtinen, Justina Kaminskaité, Jean-Lorin Sterian, Maryam Kouhestani, Aino Juutilainen and Adam Cadell, Open Mic Helsinki (Tania Nathan, Monica Guthao & Arvind Ramachandran), FAR Night School (Ella Alen & Arvind Ramachandran), Heiny Srour, JuanFran Cabrera, Sirpa Jokinen, DJ Sharron Todd, Kontula Art School (KAS), Kontula Library, D-Asema, Kontupiste, Luuppi (Kontula Youth Center), Frame Contemporary Art Finland, Asematila (Sanna Ritvanen, Oceane), Nynnyt (Orlan Ohtonan & Selina Väliheikki), Publics, Vidisha Fadescha, Varia Sjöström, Hatz Lambo, Valentin Kimstedt, Bread Omens (Jani Anders Purhonen & Elina Rantasuo), Khush Badhwar, Chulayarnnon Siriphol, Priya Sen, Nima Naderi, Aman Askarizadmasoulleh, Elvin Brandhi, Muqata’a, Wambui Njuguna, Äänen Luomo, Steve Maher, Suva, Houria Bouteldja, CEREN (Center for Ethnic Research and Nationalism), Nordic Decolonial Workshop, Hassan Blasim, Inaam Kachachi, Aya Chalabee, Kontula Book City, Amanda Nell Eu, Gabriela Gažová, Gökçe Erdem, Ida H. Eldøen, Jordan Wong, Karissa Hahn, Liene Linde, Lud Mônaco, Malena Szlam, Nikoleta Leousi, P Sam Kessie, Payal Kapadia, Femf Art, Anastasia Artemova, Yin-Chenh Kekot, Kathleen Heil, Andrew Bentley, Anu Keski-Saari, Sam Conlon, Dr. Leonardo Custódio, Abhinit Khanna, Kaisa lassinaro, Cinenova, Goethe Institute Finland, Emilié Girard-Charest, Sami Klemola, Nucbeade, Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli, and Hanan Mahbouba.

Thank you for being a part of our journey, and being a part of the Atlas of Museum of Impossible Forms.

We thank Kone Foundation for their extended support and encouragement through this journey.

Thank you

— Marianne SavallampI & Ali Akbar Mehta

Artistic Directors of Museum of Impossible Forms, Helsinki