Traveling Exhibition: Scandinavian Toys in the Playground of Visual Art – Kai Ruohonen

Poriginal Gallery, Eteläranta 6, Pori
November 11 – 28, 2006 (downstairs)

Finnish Institute in Madrid
October 26 – November 24, 2006

Finnish Institute in Stockholm
January 31 – March 3, 2007

The foundation of the structure is Scandinavian toys. The exhibition has been materially supported by Berner, Stiga, Brio, Oy Juho Jussila (Jukka Toys), and Hantverkarlyan; the toys selected for the exhibition are chosen based on their long history of use and the familiarity this has brought. The products from these manufacturers represent not only Nordic design but also the safety and care for it, which Scandinavia is known for.

The exhibition is built from variations of already existing toys. The starting point for these variations is the appearance of the themes in real life, as part of the living and growing environment, where the primary target group of toys encounters their models daily. The exhibition explores play events and the role of play tools in them. Play is, of course, the work of a child, and play tools are the means of building a bridge between the imagined and the real.

“Windows facing the forest and wooden toys.”
Play tools can still be wooden, but today’s electronic windows offer a broader view; sometimes the forest may be a jungle, differing from the Scandinavian woods with its own laws. What is the quality of a play tool built with traditional methods and basic shapes, which has no formal or updated capacity to deal with a theme for which it was not designed?
The forest landscape visible from the window might be difficult to handle, but perhaps this timeless block figure (toys, as is well-known, have their own personalities) can be a fitting guide, leading its own creator to the edge of the forest with the instruction: build yourself and stay together.

The installation to be presented at Poriginal Gallery addresses the no-man’s-land between boundaries and love; a space where the relationship and position of these two elements can be interpreted both within the context of adult and child, individual and community, as well as more broadly in terms of era- and culture-bound application.

The principle is that the raw material borrowed from its original context into the art field can be returned to its original purpose; the objectivity is the structural necessity of the piece, but only during its display. After the exhibition ends, the toys will be donated to development aid for use in an appropriate location.

This text was created with AI assistance