Jonne Sippola: Tarja, Berndt ja minä 10.1. – 9.2.2025
Opening on Thrusday January 9th 5pm-7pm!
Guided tour on Sunday January 19th 1pm.
The exhibition is a comprehensive photographic work that explores the shared growth story between the artist and their parents during Sippola’s transition process.* The photographs document the pain points, development, and healing experiences in their relationship over sixteen years—starting from when the artist was a teenager.
Sippola has made their parents, Tarja and Berndt, an integral part of their artistic process. For instance, they invited their parents to join them in an artist residency to work together, and some of the exhibition’s photographs were taken by Sippola’s mother, Tarja. Sippola considers their parents part of the team that produced the exhibition. This collaborative approach has served as a way to alleviate the culture of silence that is familiar to many Finnish families.
The work blends art photography, archival materials, and documentary imagery, oscillating between past and present. Creating it has also been a means for Sippola to process the past years and their own journey from being a struggling LGBTQ youth to adulthood. In the latest collaborative photographs, their supportive parents stand by their side, having embraced the changes with acceptance.
Gender diversity remains a sensitive topic in many families, and many transgender children and youth suffer as a result. The story of Sippola and their parents highlights the importance of empathy and listening in fostering mutual growth.
The exhibition includes not only photographs but also a letter that visitors can take with them.
Jonne Sippola (b. 1991, Nummela) addresses themes of minority status, mental sensitivity, environmental destruction, and activism in their work. In addition to photography, Sippola uses installation, ceramics, and textiles as mediums of expression and is part of the Sippola&Saarits collective. Their works have been featured in solo and group exhibitions in Finland, elsewhere in Europe, and North America.
The exhibition has been supported by Finnfoto ry, the Olga and Vilho Linnamo Foundation, the Patricia Seppälä Foundation, and the Arts Promotion Centre Finland, and it was developed in the Mustarinda artist residency.
*A transgender person is someone whose gender does not align with the gender assigned to them at birth. The transition process refers to a series of measures through which a person aligns their gender socially and/or medically.
Text: Orlan Ohtonen, Curator, The Finnish Museum of Photography
