SAMI PARKKINEN – TRANSITION 

June 13th – August 31st, 2024 

Using art as his medium, photographer Sami Parkkinen aims to create a fresh view of the unbreakable bond between humans and nature. 

Parkkinen questions the established view that we humans are superior to the rest of the natural world. Climate change and the loss of biodiversity already threaten the limits of global capacity. We need a transition to a more ecologically and socially sustainable society, but it won’t happen without a change in beliefs and attitudes. The medium of art holds a unique position in this ongoing process. 

At the heart of the exhibition, you will find the photographic series Father & Son, began by Parkkinen in 2012. The series follows the transition from childhood into youth, and how the borders of a child’s world keep expanding outwards. On the other side of carefree games, you will find feelings of loss and worry for the future. What will that world be like, in which our children carry on after we are gone? 

Underneath the darkness you can make out light. Parkkinen doesn’t vision a future colored by dystopia. There is faith that change is possible – that we are capable of seeing and acting differently. 

On display in the exhibition is a selection of Sami Parkkinen’s works from 2010 to 2024. His works have previously been seen in a variety of galleries and museums in Finland and abroad, such as Finland’s National Museum (Helsinki 2021), National Portrait Gallery (London 2015), Circulation(s) — Festival de la Jeune Photographie Européenne (Paris 2016) and the Finnish Museum of Photography (Helsinki 2010). Additionally, his works are included in prominent public and private collections. 

Instagram: @samiparkkinenstudios 

Permanent Exhibitions

Joensuu Art Museum houses an interesting collection of art from Finland and around the world, mainly donated to the museum by private collectors. The permanent exhibitions include Finnish art from 1850s to modern days, Greek and Roman antiquities, Eastern Orthodox icons, catholic church art from Southern and Central Europe, and a collection of Chinese art, in which the oldest artifacts are from 1600 BCE.

You can listen to an audio guide on your phone while visiting us, open the guide here.