IHME Helsinki Commission 2022
The IHME Helsinki Commission 2022 entitled Learning from Doubt by Indian artist and filmmaker Amar Kanwar, is a ten-week online educational course. The course is based on and emerges from the art installation and exhibition The Sovereign Forest by Kanwar.
Amar Kanwar’s films and multi‐layered installations originate in narratives often drawn from zones of conflict and are characterized by a unique poetic approach to the personal, social and political.
The Sovereign Forest
The Sovereign Forest, is an art project that has been ongoing since 2009. It has been evolving, expanding and experimenting with different forms and presentations, and has been made in collaboration with Samadrusti/Sudhir Pattnaik and Sherna Dastur. Samadrusti is a fortnightly Odia political and social news magazine, Sudhir Pattnaik is the editor of Samadrusti and a social activist. Sherna Dastur is a graphic designer and filmmaker based in Delhi.
Experiences gained during the making and exhibiting of The Sovereign Forest and lessons learned from experiments about ecological sustainability with a unique seed bank in the state of Odisha, are integrated into the course. Over the ten weeks, participants will focus on the various elements that make up The Sovereign Forest exhibition—films, books, stories, seeds, images— and approach the concept of “evidence of a crime” from a different perspective.
Learning from Doubt
The online course Learning from Doubt will share in detail the making of The Sovereign Forest exhibition’s various elements: films, books, stories and processes. It will also share lessons learned from the engagement with the rice seed bank, its principles of indigenous seed ownership, conservation and farming.
The course aims to develop the ability to use a multi-disciplinary approach to research, integrate community experiences and develop the ability to positively engage with contradictions and doubts. Students will also experiment with the understanding of evidence through “a selected scene of crime” from their own experiences and communities.
The course will be taught online through films, readings, podcasts, and live interactive sessions with the artist. Some of the films will also be shown in a physical location in Helsinki.
The online course Learning from Doubt held between February 15 until May 3, 2022 will be available to all residents of Finland who may be interested to register. The registration is open until January 9, 2022.
More about the course and registration.
IHME Helsinki
The Finnish contemporary art commissioning agency IHME Helsinki supports art, science, and climate work. Our main collaborators are contemporary artists who work in dialogue with scientists, researchers and other experts in various knowledge systems to reflect on the focal questions of the artist’s research. IHME actively explores and distributes information about ways that art organizations can transition to ecological sustainability.
Amar Kanwar was selected by the Advisory Board of IHME Helsinki. The members are Professor Ute Meta Bauer (Nanyang Technological University), Dean Hanna Johansson (Fine Arts Academy, University of Arts), artist-researcher Antti Majava (BIOS Research Instutute), Professor Jussi Parikka (Winchester School of Art, University of Southampton and FAMU, Prague), and it is Chaired by Executive Director and Curator of IHME Helsinki Paula Toppila.
“From the perspective of ecologically sustainable art-institution practice we wanted to select an ongoing project that could be shared with our audiences in Finland, while at the same time be already happening in another location outside of Finland. Amar Kanwar´s Learning from Doubt online course further supports continuous learning, learning about life itself and its interdependencies. What could be more relevant in the times of ecological transformation to learn about?” says Paula Toppila on the decision to select Amar Kanwar.
IHME Helsinki’s work is possible by support from its founding body Pro Arte Foundation Finland with Kone Foundation and Saastamoinen Foundation in 2020–22.
