Creativity Lab creates new museum practices

“The art is out there,” says Museum Director Tuula Karjalainen of Kiasma and gestures towards Mannerheimintie street from her office window. Such a claim from the lips of a museum director is surprising. After all, there is right now a representative selection of contemporary art within the walls of Kiasma, The Landscape collection display and the Ars Fennica candidates. Despite this, Karjalainen already has her sights set elsewhere.

“Contemporary art happens here and now, and its heart is somewhere quite different than exhibition rooms,” Karjalainen says. “Museums provide points of reference to depart from, and to arrive and be at, but they only show the tangible results of contemporary art.”

“The definition of a work of art has changed radically. Contemporary art is not only concrete things or objets d’art. It is also happenings, events, interactivity, experiences… It is an inseparable part of society and people,” Karjalainen describes.

The process-like character of contemporary art has not only changed the nature of art, but also the sphere of activity of museums. For Kiasma, this change has meant new modes of operation: because contemporary art is everywhere, the museum has to be everywhere as well. “Kiasma cannot be an organisation that just produces exhibitions. For us to be a living museum of contemporary art, in society. Ivory towers cannot be our goal. Instead, we must build co-operation with different players in society.”

To avoid ivory towers, Karjalainen started the Creativity Lab project a couple of years ago. The aim is to employ different pilot projects to develop new ways of working and making a mark as a museum, focusing on the blind spots of Kiasma’s permanent basic functions. The idea of the Creativity Lab being just that, a laboratory, opens up many possibilities.

“The Creativity Lab creates a framework for new things to happen. The aim is to begin experiments, which might not even be meant to be part of Kiasma forever. Even the words Creativity Lab underline the existence of risks,” Karjalainen points out. “We will not shy away from anything, but gladly welcome all risks and free ourselves from the compulsion to succeed. What is crucial is experimenting.”

Although success has not been prescribed, the short history of the Creativity Lab is full of success stories. As an example, Karjalainen names the first actual Creativity Lab project, Kiasma School on Wheels. This art education project took the message of contemporary art, in a van, to ninth graders all over Finland in 2003–2005. Even after the pilot project’s end, the ideas have continued to live on in new forms and contexts. The project also proved that the right approach makes it easy to arouse genuine interest in contemporary art.

The test-tube experiments of the Creativity Lab have also inspired wider debate on culture and welfare policies. For instance, the shared desire of many different players in society to make art and culture an even more central element of Finnish welfare policy has found a concrete form in an extensive Art Renewing the Welfare Society project.

“The project employs a wide perspective to find out all that it is possible to achieve through art; what art means to people. We are talking about the fundamental things in life and art,” says Karjalainen.

The good reception of the project on all fronts has shown that there is a demand for such activities. It has simultaneously also proved the significance of one of the basic tenets of the Creativity Lab: finding the right co-operation partners. For instance, the Art Renewing the Welfare Society project has numerous participants ranging from the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health (STAKES) and art universities to the Culture and Health network.

“The Creativity Lab projects have largely been collaborative efforts. Networking is surprisingly easy: the general attitude towards contemporary art is clearly in a state of positive change,” says Karjalainen. “We have brought together as widely different partners as possible, which has given birth to new things. Different co-operation partners affect the way we think and that in turn affects our choices.”

The Creativity Lab pilots and Kiasma’s conscious networking have made Karjalainen reconsider the basic function of museums. “A museum of contemporary art must primarily be an active organisation. We must act, not just display art. That way we will not cocoon ourselves. Kiasma must adopt the role of a trailblazer. After all, it is a role that is inherent in contemporary art.”

Tuula Karjalainen was inteviewed by Riikka Haapalainen, Head of Education