Theresa Traore Dahlberg’s (b. 1983) artistic practice often takes its cue from the material itself. She examines the origins of discarded objects both as physical materials and as containers of industrial memory, shedding light on their fraught history and shifting meanings through the personal stories of the workers who made them.
Traore Dahlberg draws on her personal experience of being anchored in two divergent sociopolitical realities: Sweden and Burkina Faso.
In her installation on Vallisaari’s Island, recycled materials – metals and minerals excavated from the Earth – claim their right to exist in a new bird-like form proposed by the artist.
On view at HAM are three sculptures: two of them take their shape from a hare, and the third one is based on the Senufo bird figure and African fable.
The artwork production is supported by the Swedish-Finnish Cultural Foundation.
Artwork locations: Vallisaari Island and HAM Helsinki Art Museum
Photo: Svante Örnberg