Heini Aho participates in summer exhibition Oasis by Pro Artibus Foundation in Tammisaari, running until 5 September 2021. Oasis spreads out across the town, popping up in public places and redefining the city’s green spaces. The exhibition asks: What does the garden say about us? What do we want to use it to say? And how do we live together with the greenery that surrounds us?

On a small pier Aho’s new site-specific installation A Poem by a Plumber directly addresses the sea surrounding it. An underlying idea is giving the sea a chance to show a side other than the familiar, horizontal, rippling surface that reflects the sky and the heavenly bodies. Aho takes the sea for what it is: water. Using a water pump and various types of pipes, gutters, nozzles and mechanical parts she constructs a stage for the sea to show off its raiment. The work is a tribute to lazy, listless summer days when we let the wind and weather decide what is to happen.

Image: Heini Aho, A Poem by a Plumber, 2021, water pump, iron, copper, brass, porcelain, enamelled containers, hand towel, textile, salt and seawater | Photo: Ahmed Alalousi