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Maija Annikki Savolainen & Päivi Helander: Phytopia 8.8. – 7.9.2025

Opening on Thrusday August 7th 5pm-8pm
Havanto & Penttinen will perform at 7pm
Guided tour on the Night of the Arts, Thursday August 14th at 6:30pm
Discussion: Women’s Sailing Culture and the Aesthetics of Environmental Catastrophe, Saturday September 6th, 2pm-3pm

Phytopia is a utopian narrative set in the Archipelago Sea. It tells the story of women's sailing culture and the prevailing blue-green algae issue. At the core of this body of work are young women – commanding sailing vessels, natural forces, and the gaze of the camera. These young sailors know the local waters like the pockets of their sailing suits—but the other life forms of the archipelago know them, too. Coexistence is enabled through reciprocity and a shared language – phytography – between the sailing women and the blue-green algae.

The exhibition is a collaboration between photographic artist Maija Annikki Savolainen and graphic designer Päivi Helander. The project stems from their shared interest in exploring regenerative ways of addressing sailing culture and and the environmental crisis of the Baltic Sea. Savolainen’s photographic works have been created mainly in collaboration with local girl sea scouts’ community from Turku. Sea scouting is a hobby centered on a strong connection to nature and it offers an equitable learning environment for young girls regardless of their socioeconomic background. 

Helander’s work with algae-based typography is grounded in the idea of interpreting natural systems as a semantic sign system – a tool for understanding the prevailing ecological crisis. It is a form of co-writing and co-reading with the sea’s multispecies ecosystem – not from outside of it. Through the microscope, formations of cyanobacteria begin to suggest a hypothetical alphabet. Seen from a sailboat’s deck, the blue-green algae patterns appear as a map—one in which these signs gradually begin to arrange themselves.

The Phytopia exhibition invites the viewer to explore blue-green algae as a kind of choreography of signs and a precondition for a multispecies language. The dense blooms that cloud the water act not only as indicators of eutrophication, but also as protective veils—behind which life can reorganize itself in unprecedented ways. Through photography, graphic design, and object installations, the exhibition proposes forms of coexistence in the face of environmental catastrophe. The works portray the realities that emerge when the ability to read nature and move in rhythm with it surfaces. The exhibition is part of the Archipelago Sea Biosphere Reserve’s Archipelago Sea 2025 year -program.

Maija Annikki Savolainen is a photographic artist with roots in Turku and in sea scouting. Her artistic practice is research-driven and multimedia in nature. Her works have been widely exhibited in Finland and internationally. She has also worked as a university lecturer in the Master’s Programme in Photography at Aalto University. Currently, Savolainen is a doctoral candidate at Aalto ARTS, where her research focuses on the blue-green algae situation in the Archipelago Sea and women’s sailing culture. 

Päivi Helander is a graphic designer and lecturer whose work is defined by a research-based approach to visual communication. Originally from Turku, Helander explores graphic design as a spatial and contextual practice that brings together publication design, site-responsive work, and visual systematics. She teaches at Aalto University’s School of Arts, Design and Architecture in the design and visual communication programmes. Helander has been selected Graphic Designer of the Year 2025.

Savolainen and Helander are founding members of the SEAS collective. The collective aims to promote multispecies well-being in archipelago and marine areas by producing knowledge and mainstreaming it through design and visual culture.

Exhibition is supported by: Svenska Kulturfonden, Konstsamfundet, Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation, Arts Promotion Centre Finland, and Freelancegraafikot

Photography, rope, glass and textile works: Maija Annikki Savolainen
Graphics: Päivi Helander
Textile plant dyeing: Pirita Lauri / Välitila Studio
Glassblowing: Slate Grove and Zachary Compton / Aalto University
Opening performance: Otso Havanto and Kristian Penttinen

The artists gratefully acknowledge the support, assistance, and collaboration of:
SEAS Collective
Turun Tähti-Tytöt ry
Jonna Teikari / University of Helsinki
Pirita Lauri / Välitila Studio
Otso Havanto and Kristian Penttinen
Kanssakulkijat project / Deaconess Foundation
The women crew of s/y Allena
Ruissalosailing
Kuunari Helena / Finnish Sail Training Foundation
X-glass Oy
Jasmiina Knaapi
Santeri Niemi
Hilla Paananen
Cover Story Paint
Jaakko Mattila