EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art is proud to present the Finnish debut of Pilvi Takala’s video installation Close Watch

Pilvi Takala’s Close Watch will be introduced to the media on Tuesday, 31 January, at 10 am (EEST). The media event will be hosted simultaneously online and in-person at EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art. You are welcome to take part in the press conference on Zoom via this link.

Pilvi Takala is an internationally acclaimed Finnish artist who through her art examines various communities, work cultures and the implicit rules they conform to. Close Watch is based on Takala’s experiences during her employment and research while working covertly for Securitas as a fully qualified security guard in one of Finland’s largest shopping malls. The videos were filmed at a three-day workshop organized by Takala in which she and her ex-colleagues address issues of racism, violence, and toxic behaviour that she has encountered in the workplace.The recent shocking events in the security industry and the discussion around it have made Takala’s work even more relevant.The exhibition curated by Christina Liis on viewin EMMA from 1 February to 7 May 2023. 

The public programme of Close Watch will form an integral part of the exhibition, offering audiences a space for reflection and an engaging opportunity to explore the themes of power and safety in our everyday life and in our society at large. The programme consists of three EMMA Talks events that will explore the topics of the work from various perspectives. Further extending the discussions the work has generated, EMMA Talks: Whose safety? will bring in dialogue various stakeholders to unpack the code of conduct as well as the responsibilities of security organisations and personnel who enforce control in the name of public good.  

At EMMA, the site-specific multi-channel installation divides the space into two interrelated presentations in which the watcher and the watched are immersed in an active field of relations.Close Watch provides a platform for the guards, and by extension for all of us, to consider one’s position and ethics, as well as alternative tactics, when exerting authority in their field and society at large. 

Close Watch is a part of InCollection series of collaborative exhibitions co-produced by EMMA and Saastamoinen Foundation. Takala is the fifth artist to be featured in this invitational series, in which a new piece is commissioned annually from a visionary contemporary artist. Through InCollection, Saastamoinen Foundation develops its permanent collection. 

Saastamoinen Foundation’s permanent collection is on view in EMMA’s Touch exhibitionwith regularly changing displays. Short film The Lonely Villa by Jesper Just will be showcased in the media space of Touch from 1 February to 28 May. The video work examines minority cultures, gender stereotypes and inter-generational relationships. In the short film, the main protagonists converse by singing to each other over the telephone, with the lyrics indirectly hinting at the emotions unfolding between them.