Welcome to NSU Summer Program! A complete program can be found on the TracingTheSpirit.com page. There you may read about each Trace by clicking on the “Read more” link. More program points will be announced as the Summer Session approaches, so stay tuned. You may also find information about the Traces event on our facebook page. 

Knots/Solmuja will be held on Monday, June 27th from 12:00-12:30pm at Lapinlahden sairaala in Helsinki, Finland. 

Sunday's schedule at Harakka island:
https://tracingthespirit.com/session/c7-helsinki-gathering-parent-session/

Monday's programme at Lapinlahden sairaala
https://tracingthespirit.com/session/c7-lapinlahti-park-parent-session/

See you there!

​X arlene

Keynote speakers
Just like every year, two distinguished keynote speakers have been invited to the Summer Session. Our first guest is Prof. Steve Fuller who is Auguste Comte Professor of Social Epistemology at the University of Warwick, UK. Originally trained in history, philosophy and sociology of science at Columbia, Cambridge and Pittsburgh, Fuller is best known for his foundational work in the field of “social epistemology”, which is the name of a quarterly journal that he founded in 1987 as well as the first of his twenty-five books. From 2011 to 2014 he published a trilogy relating to the idea of a 'post-' or 'trans-' human future under the rubric of 'Humanity 2.0'. His most recent books are Post-Truth: Knowledge as a Power Game (Anthem 2018) and Nietzschean Meditations: Untimely Thoughts at the Dawn of the Transhuman Era (Schwabe 2019). Fuller is currently completing a follow-up to Post-Truth, also to be published by Anthem in 2020. His works have been translated into thirty languages. He was awarded a D.Litt. by the University of Warwick in 2007 for sustained lifelong contributions to scholarship. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the UK Academy of Social Sciences, and the European Academy of Sciences and Arts.

Our second keynote is Nora Bateson who is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and educator, as well as President of the International Bateson Institute, based in Sweden. Her work asks the question “How we can improve our perception of the complexity we live within, so we may improve our interaction with the world?”. An international lecturer, researcher and writer, Nora wrote, directed and produced the award-winning documentary, An Ecology of Mind, a portrait of her father, Gregory Bateson. Her work brings the fields of biology, cognition, art, anthropology, psychology, and information technology together into a study of the patterns in ecology of living systems. Her book, Small Arcs of Larger Circles, released by Triarchy Press, UK, 2016 is a revolutionary personal approach to the study of systems and complexity. 

Find all information on the keynote sessions and links to register on the website.

Since 1950, the Nordic Summer University  (NSU) actively supports the cultivation of new ideas and growing research networks in the Nordic countries. As an independent, non-profit academic institution, NSU fosters the development of new research areas and emerging researchers in the Nordic and Baltic countries. Committed to egalitarian and interdisciplinary modes of learning, the NSU is open for senior scholars, doctoral and master students, as well as artists and professionals with relevant backgrounds. NSU is a non-profit organization, funded by Nordic Council of Ministers / Nordic Council (www.norden.org).

(English below)
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Solmu kantaa nykyisyyttä, menneisyyttä ja tulevaisuutta. Miten solmu on tehty? Kuinka iso solmu on? Miten voimme vapautua solmusta? Jääkö solmu jumiin? Solmu voi olla hyvä metafora ja symboli, osa meidän ymmärryksen prosessia.  Teemme taidetta solmuista, mutta puhumme myös niistä.  Käytämme erilaisia taidetekniikoita. Täällä saat olla luova!

Marraskuusta 2019 lähtien MIELI Suomen Mielenterveys ry on tukenut Solmuja-taidetyöpajaa, joka käyttää solmuja avaamaan dialogia osallistujien välillä. Työpajassa yritetään löytää omaa sisäistä ja ulkopuolista maailmaa solmujen kautta. Tapaamiset ovat avoimia kaikenikäisille ihmisille. Solmu sarja on henkilöille, joita kiinnostaa keskustella omasta elämästä ja keskustelun ohessa myös tehdä taidetta solmuista. Solmu-sarja on avoin kaikille. Tapaamisissa puhutaan suomea ja englantia.  Vapaa pääsy.

Milloin: Torstaina 25.6 klo 16.30-18.30 & Lauantaina 27.6 klo 14.00-16.00
Missä: TUO TUO Kulttuuri Tila, Pertunmaantie 912, Joutsa. https://www.tuotuoarts.com/suomeksi
Ilmoittautuminen Arlenelle arlene.dearyou(@)gmail.com ja tuotuoarts@gmail.com.
​https://ryijy.weebly.com/solmuja--knots.html
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Solmu-sarjan takana on MIELI Suomen Mielenterveys ry (TOIVO-ryhmä).  TUO TUO Joutsassa on ollut niin ystäväälinen isännöidä Solmu Sarja. TUO TUO Kulttuuri Tila & Residenssi on vuonna 2020 perustettu itsenäinen voittoa tavoittelematon taideorganisaatio. TUO TUO pyrkii toimimaan ilmaisun ja rohkeitten uusien ideoiden kasvualustana. Tuemme ensisijaisesti Ekologiseen taiteeseen ja tutkimukseen pohjautuvia aloitteita, permakulttuuriprojekteja, sekä julkiseen vuorovaikutukseen tähtääviä hankkeita.

A knot carries the present, past, and future. How was this knot made? How large is this knot? How can we get out of this knot? Does this knot want to stay stuck? In that sense, a knot can be used as a metaphor, a symbol, and an active part of our  process of understanding. In Knot Series we will use different art techniques to help express ourselves. It’s ok to be experimental here! 

Since November 2019 MIELI Suomen Mielenterveys ry has been supporting Knots, a series of open art workshops which use knots as the grounds for dialogue and discovery of our inner and outer worlds. These gatherings are open to all ages and people from all walks of life. The elusive yet concrete nature of the knot has brought us together. Knot series is for people who are interested in sharing life stories, listening to other perspectives and making art from our time together.  Knot series is open to everybody. The workshop will be held in both Finnish and in English. Participation is free of charge.

When: Thursday, 25.6 klo 16.30-18.30 & Saturday, 27.6 klo 14.00-16.00
Where: TUO TUO Kulttuuri Tila, Pertunmaantie 912, Joutsa. https://www.tuotuoarts.com/
Register by emailing Arlene at arlene.dearyou(@)gmail.com and ja tuotuoarts@gmail.com.
https://ryijy.weebly.com/solmuja--knots.html

Knot series is made in collaboration with MIELI Mental Health Finland (TOIVO-ryhmä). For the workshops in Joutsa TUO TUO has so kindly offered their space to hold Knot Series. TUO TUO Kulttuuri Tila & Residency is an independent non-profit community space for the arts established in 2020. TUO TUO aims to function as an incubator for expression and new ideas with a focus on Ecological Arts & Humanities. 

I bumped into Ruth Asawa's knots at the Whitney Museum yesterday. I didn't know anything about this Japanese American artist at all until then! The attendant at the museum told me that she learned the weaving technique in the above pictures from an indigenous person on her visit to Mexico. She then started experimenting with that technique using metals.

Read more about Asawa's artwork here.