Category: Uncategorized

July 31 – August 9

During our stay in Mariehamn we went to explore the Bomarsund castle ruins with Godzilla’s artists Siún Carden, Minna Henriksson, and Ragnar Elnyg. The whole place was built with such uniquely shaped hexagonal (very honeycomb-like!) stones. Majority of the original (apparently massive) structures had been destroyed — there were only wall parts left here and there.

From Mariehamn we sailed (in a beautiful weather!) to a small island Björkö, where artistic duo Simon Häggblom and Karin Lind (SIMKA) hosted us in their beautiful home. Onboard on this trip: me, Iida-Liina Linnea, Merja Puustinen, Andy Best, Sari Torvinen, Ragnar Elnyg and Siún Carden.

They showed us the sweet small island with only 9 permanent inhabitants (but during summertime around 100 people!). We had a magnificent walk through the forests and the rocky beaches, and a refreshing swim in the Baltic Sea. Some bones (probably seal’s) were found on the shore. Simon Häggblom showed us their chicken and vegetable garden. SIMKA also talked us about their artworks. They had recently started to reconnect with their past project “Floating Trunks” that they had 10 years ago. One of the nights we had the cutest get together and a dance party with the locals. Ragnar Elnyg performed his piece “Ulkomaalainen vedenväki” at the Björkö event stage.

After spending couple of days in Björkö, we headed to Vitören — a small island with only a sauna in it. The place was magical! The weather was beautiful, Simon was making pancakes, some went to sauna, some were reading books and laying on the rocks. Godzilla stayed the night on anchor in Vitören. Iida and me slept in the sauna!

We left Vitören early next morning and sailed to Nötö. Back in Finland after a while! In Nötö we had a little hike to see Soiva kivi (A stone that rings). Iida picked up berries and also some chantarelles were found! Some of us slept in a yurt.

After enjoying a sunny day and peaceful night in Nötö (even though the island was full of ticks), we finally started heading towards Seili (Själö) and the Herring Day event on August 8, co-organised by Archipelago Research Institute (Turku University) and CAA Contemporary Art Archipelago in collaboration with Imagining Godzilla and John Nurminen Foundation. The event was part of a long-term collaboration between art and science in Seili.

The programme of the day was full of interesting things: First we had a guided tour about Archipelago Research Institute “60 Years of Research on the Changing Sea” by professor Ilppo Vuorinen. Then we heard about the state of the herring with super fascinating What’s up Herring? – how to read the otoliths (hearing bones) of herring and the food web of the sea – lecture guided by researchers / marine biologists Katja Mäkinen and Marjut Rajasilta. Then we had a viewing of the seashore through water binoculars, guided by marine biologist Katja Mäkinen. Then curator Taru Elfvig from CAA Contemporary Art Archipelago guided us through At the Edges of Knowledge: exhibition. Finally we enjoyed Sergio Castrillón cello performance Global Soundscapes, and Ragnar Elnyg‘s performance “Save a fish, eat a sailor.”

We left Seili a few days earlier than planned – we wanted to avoid the storm that was reaching the archipelago area. After packing our things, saying bye to Ragnar, Sari and Siún, and welcoming artists Rachael Allain and Santtu Laine onboard, we started to head towards Godzilla’s this summer’s last harbors Hangö and Tvärminne.

🦭: Saara

July 12 – July 23

After Poland we arrived in Karlskrona, Sweden, where we met with Godzilla’s artists Sasha Rotts, Pavel Rotts (SASHAPASHA) and Anastasiia Lapteva. We explored the small harbour town for a while, and early next morning we started heading towards Kalmar.

The plan was to stay in Kalmar for few days, so we could fix one of the mast wires that got damaged during the sail and to get to know the surroundings better. We rented a car and had a little road trip to Öland, an island thats history dates back to Stone Age. We visited places such as Ismanstorp fortress (ruins of an ancient ringfort), Borgholm Castle (originally built in the second half of the 13th century) and St Brita’s Chapel (most likely) from the 13th century. The Borgholm Castle (or actually the ruins of it) were really really captivating. Despite it was cold and drizzly, we stayed quite a while walking around. The view from the top floor to the open sea was really impressive!

The next day we visited Kalmar Castle (built around 1180). It was fascinating, but somehow all of us were more impressed by the ruins seen the day before.

After leaving Kalmar, we had a one day stopover at the harbour of Oskarshamn. Everyone had a little time to walk around. Me, Pavel and Asya had an evening stroll to the town’s old water tower on top of the hill. There was an extremely friendly and sociable cat greeting us. We were clearly in their neighbourhood and they seemed to be the guardian of the tower. The town looked really pretty up from the hill and over the little bridge, just like an illustration from some childrens book. The wooden houses were painted with the most fantastic colours and it was almost full moon.

We left a bit after 6am the next morning. It turned out to be the best day to sail to Visby. The weather was unbelievable. Perfect winds, blue sky, sun shining. Sasha was sewing on the deck. I had a nap and read some book. It was bliss! After 13 hours of sailing we arrived to Visby, Gotland. Before reaching the harbour, we took a look at the massive limestone cliffs with binoculars.

What a shock arriving to Visby was after these silent and peaceful places! I have never seen so many yachts in my life. Dj’s playing on the decks of billionaire boats. Red carpets. Dress colour-coded parties. Vintage cars. So much wealth and status. Planted palm trees on the beach. Everyone wearing white linen. Helicopters taking people to places. The presence of money and party drugs is undeniable here. And yet again super picturesque hilly cityscape – unbelievably cute houses, an ancient wall ruins surrounding the city, small cobblestone alleys, amazing view to the sea. Apparently Pippi Långstrump is from around here!

Time to explore the area more! We rented a car and drove to Fårö. We headed to the Langhammars Naturreservat in the northern part of the island, where some of the magical rauks of the island were located. The rauks of this area are limestone sea stacks — columns sculpted by erosion by winds and waves over time. The rock formations were standing majestically on the shore facing the open wide Baltic Sea.

It was possible to see the passing of time captured into the rocks and stones. Shapes of various life forms from ages ago had remained in surfaces as fossil print patterns. The little rocks by the water had already gotten their round or cracked shape. It seemed that the other small rocks further up in the slope were still waiting for their turn to be sculpted more by the surrounding elements. There was also something I’ve never seen before — a skeleton of a swan.

The basis of the barren and stony nature reserve area was limestone, with only a thin soil layer on top. The vegetation had faced long-term grazing because of the sheep. They had kept the land open and created the stunted savannah-like landscape by cropping trees and bushes.

 Truly a breathtaking place!
Before heading back to Godzilla, we had a little walk on a beach with and old light house. As we were driving around the island, we saw so many shapes on the fields and by the sides of the roads. The question always was; is it sheep, ruins or formations?

On our last day together with the group Sasha and Pavel had their artist talk at Galleri Apoteket, where their upcoming exhibition The Perfect Match will take place in August. Such good talk, such cute place! Seems like a perfect match for this exhibition. We met with the new residency artists of the week; Jukka Lehtinen, Niklas Warius and Marja Helander, and to say farewells to Sasha and Pasha (they were staying the next days at the gallery and then heading home). Me and Asya took the morning ferry to Nynäshamn and started to head towards Helsinki. Weird to be away from the boat for a couple of days! I will catch Godzilla next week from Mariehamn.

🦭: Saara