The schedule for the XXIX Mänttä Art Festival in summer 2025 has been announced. The Festival will feature a diverse programme that supports, intertwines, and coexists with the works of 84 artists. Visitors will have the opportunity to participate in various programs.
Kaija Kaitavuori
Mänttä as a Work of Art
Mänttä as a Work of Art encourages the residents of Mänttä-Vilppula to view their own lives as art. Anyone can participate by designating a part of their daily life as art, following the provided instructions. How does life change, what insights are born? The projects will be collected and shared on the Festival and Art Town's social media channels. For inspiration, participants can browse the online archive in the Tapio hall of the Pekilo exhibition space, which showcases examples of artists' projects that transform various everyday activities into art. By the end of summer, the projects created by the residents of Mänttä-Vilppula will form a collective work of art.
Violon d'Ingres / Violin of Ingres
Violon d'Ingres / Violin of Ingres invites artists who maintain another active practice or job alongside their artistic endeavours. The French painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres was both a renowned painter and a skilled violinist. The saying "Ingres' violin" describes a cherished hobby or a highly developed avocation. Kaitavuori invited artists to bring their other (a)vocational skills to the Festival and discuss how their various activities interrelate.
Art Soup!
Art Soup! offers gatherings, discussion, and soup in the old Valvomo space in Pekilo. The artists of the Violin of Ingres project and local actors, as well as members of the public, will take part in the discussion. The artists invited by Kaija Kaitavuori are Eeva-Mari Haikala, Jaakko Rustanius, Paula Salmela and Pia Lindman.
Sanna Karimäki-Nuutinen
The guided NO art tours
The guided NO art tours Curator and PhD researcher Sanna Karimäki-Nuutinen has planned a series of guided tours for the Mänttä Art Festival’s programme. Guided tours are a well-established cornerstone of public engagement and art education, and planning a tour is an area of expertise in its own right. In compiling a tour, a narrative is formed of the exhibition, drawing connections between works, highlighting, and delimiting - as general introductions, the guided tours are not neutral. The NO tours highlight the choices and particular perspective of each guide. In this way, the NO tours highlight and invite reflection on the politics embedded in art.
As the tour guides, Karimäki-Nuutinen has invited artists and creators who limit their perspective to disability, accessibility, refusal, or the collaboration between humans and other species. The tours will emphasise the diversity of life and the importance of preserving it. What aspects of society should be highlighted to build a more ecosocially sustainable future? The tour guides are Markku Haanpää, Riikka Leinonen and the duo Outimaija Hakala and Snejka.
Hanna Rantala
The Lupin Laboratory
The Lupin Laboratory is a workshop project led by visual artist and art educator Hanna Rantala, based on the comet lupin (Lupinus polyphyllus), which is classified as an invasive alien species and spreads widely along roadside verges. The project is divided into three parts. In the first part, Rantala calls for volunteers to mow the lupins. In the second part, visitors are invited to try ink painting with pigment extracted from lupines. Lastly, Rantala will lead Lupine Dialogues, a discussion focused on biodiversity, human responsibility, invasive species, indigenousness, beauty, and harm.
Ihmisyyden tunnustajat
Väinölä Summer Theatre - Sirkus Lystikus
The new play Sirkus Lystikus, produced by the Ihmisyyden tunnustajat community’s summer theatre, will premiere in July. The summer theatre has been delivering lively and impactful stories since 1982. The tragicomedy, directed by community member Satulia Saarilehdo and visual artist Paula Tella, tells the story of a circus community and the difficulty of choice, giving up, and letting go. The performances reflecting resistance to change and the journey toward new beginnings will be held from July 13 to August 10, 2025. On the premiere night, the Unarmed Finland exhibition at Sampola will open to the public.
Summer Theatre Working Group: Satulia Saarilehto, Paula Tella, Päivi Aikioniemi, Eija Husso, Outi Jaakkola, Paula Jaakkola, Jarkko Kotakorpi, Liina Makkonen, Liisa Mankinen, Jouni Marjanen, Heli Peltola, Joonas Peltola, Riitta Pietilä, Jari Ronkainen, Jussi Saarilehto, Merja Saarilehto, Ulla Silván, Reija Tähtinen.
Raisa Jäntti
Exhibition catalogue 2.0
Poet and art critic Raisa Jäntti will be sharing daily posts on the Festival’s social media channels in place of a traditional printed catalogue. Her writings will be based on her personal experiences as one of the exhibition visitors, providing insights into individual works as well as the overall ensemble they create. These collected texts will be published online on the Festival’s website in the autumn.
Additionally, a printed catalogue will be released in the form of a NO anthology, which will include contributions from various authors and co-curators, centred around the exhibition's theme.
Poem ry
Poem Association’s Poetry Desk at Pekilo. Come and listen to poems inspired by the artworks. The association’s poets are ready to engage in conversation about art and poetry with the audience.
