Marja Viitahuhta & Ánnámáret, Heinonen and Inkilä: Eanan

Eanan (in english Earth) is an exhibition consisting of video works in which the moving image is in dialogue with music. The theme of the exhibition is our relationship with the environment and the fragility of biodiversity, with a focus on Sápmi, the cultural region of the Sámi people.

The works in the exhibition are 

1 Ozus (Searching), 7 min, 2025
2 Sieidi, 4 min, 2023
3 Njáhcu (Warm winters), 5 min, 2024
4 Bálvvosbáiki (Place of Worship), 7 min, 2023
5 Eanan (Earth), 5 min, 2025

Media artist Marja Viitahuhta has created the visuals of the works, built on the core of Ánnámáret’s luohti aka northern sami yoiking. The vocals are in dialogue with Ilkka Heinonen’s jouhikko (carelian bowed lyre) and Turkka Inkilä’s electronic music.

The works and the exhibition are a continuation of the group’s multiannual collaboration, which has been presented as live performances on concert stages and music festivals, screened at film festivals, on television and exhibited in museums and galleries. The group has released two music albums, Nieguid Duovdagat and Bálvvosbáiki, and a series of video works.

Working group

Ánnámáret aka Anna Näkkäläjärvi-Länsman, is a yoiker and musician belonging to the Arctic indigenous people, the Sámi. Ánnámáret’s recognisable yoik vocals and interpretations are a direct continuation of her ancestral reindeer sámi culture. In recent years, Ánnámáret has been researching her family’s yoiks ie. luohti tradition by studying old luohti archive recordings. As a result of this work, she and her multidisciplinary team created an ensemble that combines luohti, jouhikko (karelian bowed lyre) and electronic music with video art. This unique combination of old and new brought Ánnámáret to the attention of the world music genre and Ánnámáret and his team were selected as official Womex 2023 showcase artists. Ánnámáret’s album Bálvvosbáiki was released in August 2024.

Ilkka Heinonen is a Helsinki-based musician and composer specialising in folk and world music, playing the jouhikko (karelian bowed lyre), double bass, violone and viola da gamba. As one of the pioneers of jouhikko, Heinonen has sought to expand the instrument’s range of uses, drawing influences from European jazz, Renaissance music and Karelian music. In addition to ensembles influenced by European folk music cultures, Heinonen has performed as a soloist and in orchestras in contemporary and early music concerts and projects. Heinonen is currently completing her artistic doctorate on the expressive possibilities of jouhikko in the MuTri doctoral programme at the Sibelius Academy.

Turkka Inkilä is a Helsinki-based musician, composer and sound designer. He is interested in the dialogue between different musical genres and traditions. Inkilä is a member of Anna Näkkäläjärvi -Länsman’s Ánnámáret project, the electroacoustic band Tölöläb, and performs concerting with the Japanese shakuhachi flute. Ánnámáret’s debut album Nieguid Duovdagat, produced by Inkilä, received the Folk Music Album of the Year 2021 prize and was nominated for an Etno Emma prize. The Ánnámáret: Bálvvosbáiki album, produced by Inkilä, was awarded as the Folk Album of the Year 2024. He has created sound design for plays by Akse Pettersson, video works by Saana Wang, Sasha Huber and Petri Saariko, and Riikka Vuorenmaa’s concept piece Small Darknesses. Inkilä is a flutist with a degree from Metropolia AMK and has studied composition at the Sibelius Academy under Juhani Nuorvala. He has studied shakuhachi music privately with Gunnar Jinmei Linder of the University of Tukhoma and jazz musician Jone Takamäki.

Marja Viitahuhta is a media artist whose works have been short films, performances, installations, photographs and collages. She holds a degree in performing arts from the Turku Academy of Fine Arts and a Master’s degree in fine arts from the Academy of Fine Arts. Her works have been exhibited and screened world wide at film festivals, concert halls, theatre and performing arts events, and in visual arts exhibitions in galleries and museums. Her works have acclaimed awards, including an award in the Cinéfondation category at the Cannes Film Festival 2004, and have been acquired by MoMA, Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum and the Saastamoinen Foundation. In addition to her artistic work, Viitahuhta has worked as an art teacher and lecturer at Aalto University, the University of Oulu, the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts and the Turku Academy of Arts. Viitahuhta has also served on the board of the artist run Gallery Huuto and been a member and the secretary of the board of a leftist artist run association Kiila ry.

Thank you for support: Kone Foundation, Arts Promotion Centre, Avek, Alfred Kordelin Foundation, Sámi Parliament, Sámi Council, Sámi Regional Education Centre.
Thank you: The members of the working group wish to thank their families and loved ones for their help and support in making their work possible. Thank you also to Helka Heinonen, Teemu Lehmusruusu, Laura Böök and Jane Hughes.
Installing assistants: Ida Palojärvi and Azar Saiyar.

Open 15 January – 23 February 2025
Tuesday-Sunday 10 AM – 4 PM
Free entry