Kangas Revisited

The Centre for Creative Photography published a book and exhibition titled Kangas Metamorphosis in 2014, documenting the Kangas area in Jyväskylä, which was still an industrial zone at the time. A century-old paper mill complex had shut down just a few years earlier. The name Kangas Revisited is inspired by Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen’s Byker Revisited project.

The next, and potentially final, part of the project will be published in 2034.

Photographer and visual artist Jukka Silokunnas captures illegal art as part of Kangas’ public art scene. His photographs document graffiti, tags, and street art culture, exploring the dialogue between public and illicit art.

Dance photographer Matti Häyrynen incorporates dance perspectives into his images, using empty spaces and the movement of buildings to inspire the rhythm of dance both inside and outside structures.

Kapa (Martti Kapanen) humorously critiques Kangas’ advertising slogans. His architecture-based photographs reveal small, intriguing details in the midst of massive, imposing structures.

Visual artists Nina Huisman and Mika Nykänen capture Kangas and its inhabitants through a vertical lens, emphasizing the coexistence of old factory buildings and new residential towers. History lives and is visible in the present, while also reaching toward the future.

Mikko Auerniitty’s photographs draw from the aesthetics of the Romantic period, filled with light and faith in the area’s humanity. He believes in the power of imagination and sentimentality.

Susanna Kääntä creates portraits of Kangas’ residents in their homes and workplaces. Her individual images come together to form the silhouette of Kangas.

More information on the exhibition: 

Mari Murtoniemi
Alvar Aalto Museum
mari.murtoniemi@alvaraalto.fi
+358 40 355 9162