Soil Laboratory Exhibition – Exploring the Dialogue Between Human and the Earth in Utsjoki

Maarit Mäkelä & Mira Niittymäki & Vertti Virasjoki

Gallery Kellokas, Tunturintie 54, 95970 Äkäslompolo
26.1.–11.3.2026, mon–fri 9–16

Invited artists: Priska Falin, Amedeo Martinez, Sonja Dallyn

Soil Laboratory explores the relationship and connection between humans and the earth as a living landscape. The project challenges the Western tendency to view the earth merely as a resource to be exploited, seeking instead experiential ways of understanding land as a holistic, living agent. In 2023–2024, the working group lived in and moved through the landscapes of Utsjoki, observing, documenting, and collecting materials such as soil and stones. These materials were studied and processed through ceramic practices: clay slips and objects made from local soil samples were brought into dialogue with flowing water and natural forces. The project resulted in a series of works in which earth, water, and humans engage in mutual conversation, transforming together into parts of a living landscape and of one another.