Raija Heikola

The eighth project in the Lönnström Art Museum’s series of contemporary art commissions will be created by artist Terike Haapoja with the working title Songs of Struggle, Songs of Life. The museum’s supporting foundation has allocated €100,000 for the production. The finished work will be inaugurated in 2027.

The open call for the eighth Lönnström Project attracted 82 applications. These were reviewed by a selection committee comprising Silja Lehtonen, Director of the Lönnström Art Museum; Curator Arja Roivainen; and Laura Boxberg, Director of the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux. The committee was particularly attracted by Haapoja’s approach to singing as a boundary-crossing element that will bring together diverse audiences.

Songs of Struggle, Songs of Life is a multisensory project that explores singing as a form of ecological resistance. Structured in three parts, the work will draw on the singing and vocal traditions of endangered communities, ecosystems, species and cultures. The project will comprise a song archive, an audiovisual installation exhibition, and a participatory programme of concerts and choral events. The material – sourced from both human and non-human voices – will include, for example, protest songs, vocalisations of endangered sparrows, activist anthems, and whale songs. Singing has the power to share emotions, call loved ones, foster political agency, and connect with others. It is an expression of the will to live: where there is singing, there is resistance to the forces that threaten life and community.

“It is wonderful that the Lönnström Art Museum is supporting such an important and timely project”, says Laura Boxberg. “Songs of Struggle, Songs of Life is a body of work that continues Haapoja’s unique work on issues of the non-human, history and the environment.”

Museum Director Silja Lehtonen is eagerly looking forward to working with Terike Haapoja. ”The journey ahead will bring together a wide range of participants and result in a work of art that will touch the emotions of the audience.”

Read more about the work and the artist