Ulla-Maija Alanen – Bodyscapes

10.04. – 07.06.2015

Ulla-Maija Alanen’s exhibition Bodyscapes opens on the 10th April at 16.00 in the Museum of Estonian Architecture

The exhibition Bodyscapes connects architecture and anatomy with intriguing photographic works that let viewers look into the underwater world, the human body and architectural space. For artist and architect Ulla-Maija Alanen, the Museum of Estonian Architecture, located in a former salt storage, was an inspiration. “Architectonically this building is unique. The gallery in the basement of the museum provides an intimate atmosphere, yet the space itself is powerful at the same time – the red brick vaults are what support the massive structure. In its sombre reddish hues, the vaults almost seem fleshy, like a womb or a cluster of heart muscles, although construction-wise the space is fully sectioned. The sides of the columns face different directions and are thus hidden from one another, not revealing what might be around the corner. The walls of the former salt storage exude salt crystals – the surfaces are salty like human skin,” said the artist.

In Tallinn, Ulla-Maija Alanen continues with several themes that deal with the human relationship to architectonic space, which were exhibited in the Alvar Aalto Museum in Finland last year, although quite a lot of new work is exhibited as well. “When we step into the gallery we step into our own internal landscape. The architectonic space and the body’s space merge, and the latter takes on a new dimension when our internal landscape, structures and proportions present themselves to us as architectonic allegories and metaphors,” says the author. “The topography of the human body becomes a landscape, a geography of the skin.”

The site-specific dance performance will take place on 11th April 2015 at 11 am. Coreography and dance by Annika Sarvela

The exhibition will be open to the public at the Estonian Museum of Architecture until June 7, 2015.

Soundscapes: Music Maija Ruuskanen; sound design Mikki Noroila & Maija Ruuskanen

Special thanks to: Koopia Niini&Rauam, Kordelin Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Finnish Institute in Estonia and the Embassy of Finland