Midsummer Rose

“The exhibition Midsummer Rose is centered around a juhannusruusu rosebush (Rosa pimpinellifolia) whose cream-white flowers appear commonly around midsummer in Finland. Greenhouse lights installed in the gallery recreate the day-night rhythm of the midsummer period and shine light through the window onto the winter street. This setting allows us to travel back to the summer of 2020 on a small and safe scale, protected like a rose inside a dome. At the end of the exhibition, when the last petal falls, the spell will be broken. Midsummer Rose is exercise, meditation, protest, and exodus.

For this occasion, Lukas Malte Hoffman and Susan Kooi have invited a group of artists and arts workers to present their work. Man Yau will show a new ceramic work Fairfarren that will, as if by magic, let the rosebush thrive and prosper. Composer Malibu has put together an exclusive ambience mix for the exhibition, which can be heard from outside the gallery and online here. The booklet accompanying the exhibition features Feminist Culture House’s contribution, a cocktail recipe that was conceptualised for those foraging and making infusions during midsummer 2020. Susan Ploetz’s work Skinship: Touching Intelligence is a LARP in which participants play alien, sensing creatures exploring their surroundings, objects and beings in a strange new land. ” [an excerpt from the press release, January 2021.]

Midsummer Rose was exhibited at Outo Olo, in January 2021.

For more information: www.outo.space/midsummer-rose/

Midsummer Rose publication, with contributions by Lukas Malte Hoffmann & Susan Kooi, Malibu, Susan Ploetz, Man Yau, and Feminist Culture House: Publication