Nastja Säde Rönkkö’s video work for those yet to be addresses the emotions ecological destruction awakens

Places like Chernobyl, Talvivaara and Fukushima have become concepts synonymous with accidents and ecological destruction. Human activities, such as industrial environmental disasters, are often extensive and long-lasting, penetrating through entire ecosystems with effects that may pass through several generations.

The video performance for those yet to be (2016–2018) consisting of several parts sheds light on places impacted by climate change and ecological disasters – places where the artist sends messages to future generations. In the piece, Rönkkö utilises a gesture familiar from political demonstrations; in each video, she is seen holding a cardboard sign with a short written message.

“Climate change and the ecological crisis are rarely addressed through emotions. When examining feelings and their significance, we can create deep and meaningful connections with each other and the world around us. At the core of the piece is a need to understand, challenge and change the problematic values of our time and the draining ways of existing,” Rönkkö contemplates.

Nastja Säde Rönkkö is a contemporary artist born in 1985, working primarily through means of performance and media art. Rönkkö graduated as Master of Fine Art from London Slade School of Fine Art in 2011. She was selected as Young Artist of the Year 2019, and her solo exhibition was featured at Tampere Art Museum and Aboa Vetus & Ars Nova Museum in Turku the same year. Rönkkö is also a part of an artist collective that includes Shia LaBeouf and Luke Turner. The trio’s works have been featured at Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma (2016) and Helsinki International Film Festival Love & Anarchy (2018), among others.

During the spring, EMMA will address the climate crisis. The theme will be approached in the EMMA Talks, a series of discussions. On 25 March, the subject ‘The climate is changing, what can we do?’ is broached by artist Nastja Säde Rönkkö, post-doctoral researcher Laura Riuttanen from the University of Helsinki Institute for Atmospheric and Earth System Research INAR and founding member of Zero Waste Finland ry Susanna Luukinen. The discussion is moderated by Museum Director Pilvi Kalhama.