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Matleena Jänis: Time of the Isle

30.5.-28.6.2026

Matleena Jänis
The Island's Time
Photograph Exhibition 31.5.-28.6.
Opening ceremony on Friday 29th of May at 17-19
Photographic Centre Nykyaika, Tampere

The exhibition The Island 's Time explores the layered nature of time, intergenerational memory, and the joy of summer cottage life in the Finnish lake landscape. In the exhibition, Matleena Jänis combines her own documentary photographs with images and home movies from family archives, placing the past and present side by side.

Valokuvasarja Saari The photography series Island (2025–2026) documents the small details of everyday life at a summer cottage. These are the elements from which memories are formed — memories that sustain us through the winter. The award-winning film work Memorial Writing / Islanders (2025), which has received recognition at several film festivals, deals with grief connected to the death of the artist’s mother. In the triptych shot on Super 8 film, colors, lake landscapes, and cottage traditions create a connection between different generations of the artist’s family. The emotional power of the work arises from the courage to reveal oneself in the face of an extreme experience. The perspective is personal and intimate, yet the subject is universal and relatable.

For many people, the summer cottage is the dearest place in the world. It is a place to detach from everyday life and experience a special connection with nature, from which people seek both spiritual and physical well-being. The photographs and home movies shot at the cottage are filled with great joy for life and love of nature, but also longing and melancholy. In the film’s temporal utopia, past and present coexist simultaneously. Cultural heritage is alive and constantly changing. The meanings connected to the lake landscape emerge through the flow of life, death, and memory. By observing cottage life, one can critically reflect on our consumer-driven way of life and consider what is ultimately most important to us.

Matleena Jänis Matleena Jänis works as a filmmaker and photographic artist in Jyväskylä and Kuopio. Since 1997, she has directed, written, filmed, and edited several award-winning documentary films, short films, and animations that have been shown on television, in art galleries, and at numerous international film festivals. Since 2009, she has participated in photography exhibitions, published photography books, and curated art exhibitions and art events. In her works, Matleena Jänis has explored themes such as memory, cultural history, intergenerationality, imaginary worlds, and religions. Her work is characterized by stylistic richness and warm-hearted humor. She holds a Master’s degree in Arts and Culture (Master of Culture and Arts, Turku Arts Academy), as well as qualifications in film art and photography, and a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree in cultural and social anthropology.