Erkki Pirtola’s short film program 'Finnish Village Geniuses or ITE Artists'

Erkki Pirtola has been at the centre of Finnish avant-garde art as an artist, art critic and curator since the early 1970s. Dangerously avant-garde, Pirtola does not compromise personally or in terms of his ideas. His developed sensitivity goes hand in hand with his ability to discover new artists. Moreover, his field of interest transcends generational differences and artistic media. In 2001, he was the first individual to receive the prestigious Vuoden Valopilkku prize, which is awarded every year by Yle Television, the Finnish public broadcasting company, for a significant cultural achievement. Recently Pirtola curated “Do It Yourself – Lives,” an exhibition with 50 contemporary Finnish artists, working with ‘raw art’ or ‘art brut’ at the Helsinki City Art Museum’s Meilahti Galleries. In 2008 Erkki Pirtola opened a new contemporary art gallery in Helsinki.

Erkki Pirtola’s films about Elis Sinistö, Ilmari “Imppu” Salminen and Alpo Koivumäki will be shown. The films will be commented on by the author Erkki Pirtola and Sigrid Saarep, the curator of the Tallinn Art Hall.

Introduction by Sigrid Saarep, Erkki Pirtola