06.12.2016 – 15.12.2016 at Tampere House.
Opening 06.12.2016 17:00.
Konstantina is a young artist whose parents come from Finland and Cyprus. Having graduated from her sculpture studies in the Turku Arts Academy, she is currently studying Sámi handicrafts in the Sámi Education Institute and has included Nothern Sámi in the list of languages she speaks. This is Konstantina’s first foreign residency and first encounter with Estonia and Tartu.
Being herself in between two distant countries, two distant cultures and languages, Konstantina’s work explores the topic of identity. There are several layers to her approach. On the one hand, she is keen on finding something she could call her very own. On the other, however, this very own, cozy intimate space and feeling, might also be the most universal to all humans and thus while exploring her own heritage, Konstantina is also searching for the common themes to all cultures.
In her own words, Konstantina wants to hear the stories of grandmothers, that they tell while drinking tea. Such stories that construct cultural identity based on the shared experiences. The familiar rituals of drinking tea combined with the inevitability of travel & distances are the binding strings in Konstantinas works.
During her time in Tartu, Konstantina has mostly created sculptures and small-scale installations, using discarded materials – from pieces of wood to bags of tea. She has been able to make use of the woodwork studio in the Art College and gather paper materials from the Printing Museum. Tampere House, where the exhibition is presented, was also her studio space for the previous weeks. In this way, Konstantina also brought together various institutions from Tartu to facilitate this short residency.