First International Festival of Manuports: Open Call for Artworks

Kunsthalle Kohta invites artists from all over the world to submit 'manuport' artworks for an experimental international group exhibition scheduled to open on August 17, 2021

'Manuport' is the archaeological term for 'a natural object, especially a stone, that has been carried and deposited somewhere by humans but has not been artificially shaped'.⁣⁣
⁣⁣The oldest such object is the so-called Makapansgat pebble, measuring 8.3 centimeters across and weighing 260 grams. It was found in a cave in South Africa together with remains of the oldest relatives of humankind, Australopithecus africanus, who lived three million years ago.⁣⁣Kohta proposes a collective global exercise in 'futuring' this most ancient of artistic genres, older than the cave paintings, in a group exhibition titled 'First International Festival of Manuports'.

⁣⁣We promise to exhibit all manuports received, provided they meet these basic requirements: They mustn't be bigger or heavier than the Makapansgat pebble. They mustn't violate Finnish laws against hate speech and discrimination. The postage must be paid by the senders. Your package must arrive in Helsinki before 15 July 2021.⁣⁣By setting such minimal rules, we leave everything else to those who wish to participate. Kohta will provide an attractive and intriguing setting for the submitted manuports, with murals and other works by the artists Oscar Chan Yik Long (Hong Kong/France, 1988) and Pavel Mikushev (Republic of Komi, Russian Federation, 1962).

For detailed information about the festival and instructions how to submit your work visit kohta.fi

One more thing. We hope to receive many submissions, so that First International Festival of Manuports, in addition to proving that a new, back-to-basics artistic internationalism is possible will also demonstrate the value of inclusive open-ended curatorial methods, in this case the open call. Therefore we can’t promise to return the submitted works, unless their authors have made special provisions for us to do so.

Exhibition dates: August 17–October 10, 2021

Shipping address: Kunsthalle Kohta, Työpajankatu 2 B, Building 7, 3rd Floor, 00580 Helsinki, Finland
Contact: sona.stepanyan@kohta.fi