Letter from Helsinki: Dream Archipelago

Since the Middle Ages, Vallisaari (‘Embankment Island’) has provided drinking water and sanctuary for fishermen, pilots and smugglers alike. In the early 19th century, the Russians used the unguarded island to bombard Sweden’s sprawling sea fortress on Suomenlinna, eventually taking Finland from Swedish to Russian rule; it continued as a military base through both world wars, and its grounds are veined with underground bunkers to this day. More than 300 people lived here in the mid 20th century, farming small plots, until they dwindled in number. The last person left in 1996. The Finnish Defence Forces relinquished control in 2008, and it is now managed by Metsähallitus, Parks & Wildlife Finland.

And so 80% of Vallisaari is protected; it is a key part of the City of Helsinki’s Maritime Strategy, say Helsinki Biennial curators Pirkko Siitari and Taru Tappola. ‘Everybody has a right to use these locations,’ says Siitari – with a respect for its delicate ecosystem. The Biennial’s title, ‘The Same Sea’, draws inspiration from biologist and activist Barry Commoner’s first law of ecology, that ‘everything is connected to everything else’: oceans, seas, rivers, plants, animals, insects, humans, bacteria – viruses – all are, say Siitari and Tappola, part of ‘intertwined ecosystems that form actual and symbolic networks’. ‘I think that being in physical contact with nature has become more and more important during lockdown, and when all the connections have been virtual,’ says Tappola. ‘People are very hungry for tangible things. This Biennial connects nature and art, and the experience on the island will enforce these feelings, not only as an idea, but as a concrete thing.’

‘It’s interesting how coronavirus is making us aware of our human relations to other species,’ Siitari adds. ‘I’m happy if it will increase their awareness of how important nature is for wellbeing, and the urgency to protect our nature from issues of climate change.’



Helsinki Biennial will take place on the 20% of the island that is already open to the public. Even so, the practical aspects of operating on a site of historical and natural importance are varied and complicated, says Tappola. ‘Every move we make, plan, cable, everything, indoors or outdoors, has to be approved’ – by biologists and the forestry commission, who make sure that flora and fauna are not disturbed, and by the City, to make it safe and navigable for humans, who will be encouraged to use one route, entering Vallisaari at one harbour and leaving from another.