On the Tenderness of Men

Finland/UK/AT 2024 | audio-visual installation, FIX: Care and Repair exhibition at the Museum of Finnish Architecture and Design Museum, Helsinki 26.04 – 31.12.2024 (photo: courtesy Museum of Finnish Architecture)

‘On the Tenderness of Men’ is a polyphonic audio-visual installation narrating the history of the iconic Temppeliaukio Church in Helsinki and the architect brothers Tuomo and Timo Suomalainen who designed the building. The work speculates on the architects’ personal history of displacement during the Winter War of 1939 and brings attention to the forgotten workers who built the church. The piece draws on materials from the Museum of Finnish Architecture archive presents architectural observations and ties this to Kyösti Larson’s poem “The Wanderer of the Stormy Sea,” dedicated to Suursaari, the place where the Suomalainen brothers fled from during World War II. Directly addressing museum visitors, current and former lovers, and the wider society, all together these elements create speculative research that seeks to reinterpret the construction of Temppeliaukio Church with a gentle gaze. By juxtaposing the current war on Gaza with the architects’ wartime experience, the work presents the building as a physical and emotional civil defence shelter and refuge amid today’s political crises.

Collaborating artists (sound):
Antti Kytömäki
Cameron Randall
Iiro Komulainen

Supported by Kone Foundation, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, Helsinki International Artist Programme, and the Austrian Embassy Helsinki.