Joen kanssa / Tillsammans med älven / Saman við ánni / With the River: The Collective
A border-crossing collective watery work-of-art in many parts 2023–2026
Matilda, Jouko, Jessica, Jón Sonni, Henri, Mari and Alexandra at the border between Sweden-Finland. Behind the camera Eija. Our first walk together by the Torne river.
With the River – The Collective is a work-of-art and an art process that studies through collaborative artistic work watery border-crossings and complex phenomena by different waters in the Nordic region during 2023-2026. The work unfolds in many parts in multidimensional ways both online, remotely and on location in Sweden, Finland and the Faroe Islands.
In With the River: Part 3, or as we now call it, With the River – The Collective, a group of Nordic artists from different art fields collaborate to build a multidimensional space for a fluid collective artistic work in HaparandaTornio, Tórshavn and Helsinki. In this watery border-crossing collective space we will work both online, remotely and on-site during 2023-2026.
The collective artistic work on-site began in Haparanda/Tornio by the border river Torne that flows between Sweden and Finland in the Fall of 2023, and will unfold further in each Nordic country joint with collective work online 2024/2025, on-site in the Faroe Islands in 2025 and on-site in Helsinki in 2026. Furthermore, remote collaborations will continuously be practised throughout all of the remaining timespan.
With the River is a work of art that studies, through a collaborative artistic process, border-crossings by different waters in the Nordic region during 2023-2026. The work unfolds in many parts in multidimensional ways both online and on location in Sweden, Finland and the Faroe Islands.
The artistic work in With the River unfolds in many parts. In With the River – The Collective a group of Nordic artists from different art fields from Sweden, Finland and the Faroe Islands collaborate to build a multidimensional and fluid border-crossing space for a joint artistic work. In this space we work both online and on-site during 2025-2026. The collective artistic work on-site began in HaparandaTornio by the border river Torne that flows between Sweden and Finland, unfolds further in each Nordic country joint with collective remote work online in 2024 and further on-site in the Faroe Islands (2025) and in Helsinki (2026).
The aim is to create a collective artistic process that generate new working possibilities and bonds of collaboration for all participants in the Nordic dimension. The artistic collective and its partners work long-term across borders in a multidimensional way both on location in the Nordic region and through virtual spaces sharing artistic knowledge and intersecting artistic practices.
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The collective artistic work began on-site in Fall 2023 by/with the river Torne that flows between Sweden and Finland and in Norrbotten, Sweden. The Nordic artists invited to work together with Eija Mäkivuoti met for the first time as a group on-site in HaparandaTornio by the Torne river in October 2023. Our on-site work extended from HaparandaTornio along the Torne river and the Torne River Valley reaching the river’s origins Torne lake (Torneträsk) by the Abisko national park in the Swedish Norrbotten.
The aim is to create a fluid collective artistic process that generates new working possibilities and bonds of collaboration for all participants in the Nordic dimension. The artist collective and its partners aim to work long-term across borders in a multidimensional way both on-site in the Nordic region and through virtual spaces sharing artistic knowledges and intersecting artistic practices.
The collective artistic work unfolds 2023-2024 with the support by Tjaldur – Friendship Association Finland–Faroe Islands, Nordic Culture Fund / Nordisk kulturfond and partnering with Jala Arts and Crafts Association / Jala konst och hantverk.
The participating artists in 2023 on-site in Torne River Valley was: Eija Mäkivuoti (FI/SE), Henri Hiltunen (SE), Jessica Franzén (SE), Jouko Alapartanen (FI), Jón Sonni Jensen (FO), Mariann Hansen (FO), Matilda Löytty (FI), Mari Keski-Korsu (FI) and Alexandra Stroganova (FI/RU).
During our working period on-site in HaparandaTornio/Torne river valley/Norrbotten, Sweden we hosted a public artist talk at Tornedal & Co on Saturday 7 Oct, 2023 at 15.00–18.00 (Swedish time) where the local people met the artists and learned about their art practices (link to invitation).
WITH THE RIVER – THE COLLECTIVE 2023-2024 on site work in Haparanda/Tornio in October 2023 and in 2024 is funded by Nordic Culture Fund and Tjaldur – Friendship Society Finland-Faroe Islands (via The Swedish Culture Fund in Finland).
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As of now we as the newly established With the River – The Collective we are planning the upcoming artistic work on-site in the Faroes (2025) and in Helsinki region (2026). This entail also additional fundraising.
With the River – The Collective 2025-2026 participating artists are: Eija Mäkivuoti (FI/SE), Jessica Franzén (SE), Jón Sonni Jensen (FO), Dan Helgi í Gong (FO), Matilda Löytty (FI), Mari Keski-Korsu (FI), Alexandra Stroganova (FI/RU) and Jouko Alapartanen (FI).
The collaborative artistic work and the art process is presented and comes together as an art exhibition/event and a publication (2026) joint with other public interventions (e.g. artist talks) during the on-site work (2025–26). During the collective artistic working process we publish micro-stories and documentation on social media / online.
WITH THE RIVER – THE COLLECTIVE 2025-2026 is partnering with Tjaldur – Friendship Society Finland-Faroe Islands in collaboration with Jala Art Association, the Faroese Folk High School (Føroya Fólkaháskúli) and the artist group itself.
On-site work by the Kukkola Rapids on the Swedish side, October 2023.