According to sources, Dominika Kemilä conducted a residency stay at Arkivcentrum in Karlstad during the autumn, focusing on the history of national minorities in Värmland. Her work involved archival studies and artistic processes over a month-long period. The residency was announced by Föreningsarkivet i Värmland and Region Värmland.
Kemilä's research included topics such as mining, lists of miners' farms in the Filipstad area, and a man named Biorn from the 16th century who may belong to a Sami family. One of the oldest known Finnish farms in Värmland is linked to miners north of Filipstad, and Biorn was registered to operate a smelter there. The exhibition includes works such as a wood relief inspired by Gustav Vasa's land register, another relief related to mining history, and a piece titled Waerma with details from archives and field trips.
It has been very exciting to get to do the deep dive into the archives and through field studies take it out to the places it is about.
A display case alternates images from the artistic process with images from the archives. The full scope of archival materials Kemilä accessed during her residency is not specified. " She added, "I have worked from the Finnish tradition karsikko where one peels off a piece of wood to carve in symbols or names.
" The exact dates of Kemilä's residency stay at Arkivcentrum are unknown.
That needs more research, but the possibility exists based on his surname.
I have worked from the Finnish tradition karsikko where one peels off a piece of wood to carve in symbols or names. I thought about how one gets close to a person who lived in the 16th century, and just the act of carving in his name is quite special.
There I have wanted to get in the vegetation, the mountains, the mining master seals, and the slash-and-burn agriculture.