Kunsthalle, Helsinki 18.8.-5.9.2021

Treat is a performance about caring touch by Maija Mustonen, Anna Maria Häkkinen and a working group. The work has emerged slowly in the midst of the isolation of the pandemic era and the sensitisation that distance brings.

The work is part of the A I S T I T / coming to our senses exhibition.

We tune in to the miracle of touch. We approach it with gentleness. We enchant. We also aim to touch with scents. Our perfume smells of tuberosa and white flowers: gardenia, lily of the valley and jasmine flower.

A miracle can happen inside a touch. It may not be visible from outside, and it can be completely intimate and quiet. It can be caring; tell something about pleasure; point to a need, or appear as a surprise. We invite and channel the miracle still having in mind that nothing miraculous needs to happen.

Preparing a careful touch feels touching. Watching a touch feels touching. For us, the joint practice of caring touch has shown the need to surrender to gravity and fatigue, the desire to support each other’s rest.

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Project lead: Maija Mustonen

Choreography and performance: Anna Maria Häkkinen and Maija Mustonen

Spatial design: Sofia Palillo

Scent dramaturge: Masi Tiitta

Scent: Parfums Dusita: Mélodie de l’Amour

Artistic dialogue: Hanna Ahti

In Collaboration with: Parfums Dusita, Carhartt and Florist Living Room

Residency support: Ehkä production, Liisa Pentti Co, Mustarinda, Dance House

Supported by: Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation, Finnish Cultural Foundation and Finnish Cultural Foundation’s Uusimaa Foundation

📷 Patrik Rastenberger