Journey to the Heartlands 
​MATKALLA MAAN KESKIPISTEESEEN

Instalaltion view. Photo credit Kuva Hannu-Pekka Auraneva

Nomad. Collages mounted on aluminum composite and phototex adhesive fabric. Various sizes and dimensions.
​From the Wanderings series, 2020, Anna Binta Diallo. 

JOURNEY
TO THE HEARTLANDS 
​MATKALLA MAAN KESKIPISTEESEEN


Matkalla maan keskipisteeseen / Journey to the Heartlands presents new contemporary art, performances, lectures and workshops. The theme of the exhibition curated by Rickard Borgström is Notions of Space – From Belonging to Displacement. The exhibition features 29 Finnish and international artists/artist duos and extends to four exhibition venues in Central Finland.

Gallery Jarska, Saarijärvi
13 June–16 August 2020

Keuruu Museum 
ANNA BINTA DIALLO - WANDERINGS
12 September–21 November 2020

Jyväskylä Art Museum
ANNA BINTA DIALLO - WANDERINGS
19 September 2020–17 January 2021

Saarijärvi Museum
3 February–25 April 2021

Wanderings Installation.  Collages mounted on aluminum composite and phototex adhesive fabric. Various sizes and dimensions. From the Wanderings / Vaellukset series, 2020, Anna Binta Diallo. 
​ Central Finland Exhibition : Jyväskylä Art Museum, September 19 - January 21, Finland. 

Wanderings, Notions Of Place – From Belonging To Displacement Part I, Journey to the Heartland, Matkalla maan keskipisteeseen 2020 / Central Finland Exhibition, Keuruu Museum, September 12 - November 21, Keuruu, Finland.

PANELS
Flying Portals / Majestic Vaults Over Ice and Snow / Floating Goddess and The Fish
 Colossal Cetacean with Crouching Man / Ocean Maiden (ova) / Freshwater Constellations I 
Flight or fight with tortoise (II) / Good Fortune (sampo) / Boy at the Shore
Magnificent Giants / Eternal Reverberations (Kantele)
From the Wanderings / Vaellukset series.  Digital collages printed on cotton flag mesh material, 250 cm x 200 cm, 2020, Anna Binta Diallo.

Installation. Collages mounted on aluminum composite and phototex adhesive fabric. Various sizes and dimensions.
​From the Wanderings / Vaellukset series, 2020, Anna Binta Diallo. 

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INTERVIEW WITH ANNA BINTA DIALLO

“No matter where I live, I find that it’s the people whom you surround yourself with that make you feel like you belong. For this reason, I have always felt like I belong. I have been lucky to have family and friends of different backgrounds surrounding me in life.”

Anna Binta Diallo investigates the concepts of belonging and non-belonging through the themes of identity, race and colonialism. Arranging and combining found materials into collages, she creates surprising new narratives and viewpoints. Diallo’s works are spatial installations consisting of paintings, drawings and videos, as well as digital and paper collages.
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Diallo’s installation Wanderings examines imaginary figures and places from folk stories, reinterpreting them and creating new legends. She is intrigued by how our ideas of ourselves and our communities are shaped by traditions and stories throughout the world. In today’s globally unified world, folk traditions also migrate. In her work, Diallo explores topical issues of non-belonging, such as immigration, the refugee crisis, racism and geographic boundaries.

Anna Binta Diallo (b. 1983, Dakar, Senegal) lives and works in Montreal, Canada. Growing up in a multi-cultural family has had a decisive influence on her creative work: she has explored the construction of her own identity, the desire for belonging, as well as Canada’s legacy of colonialism and racism that persists to this day. She hopes that her art can inspire people to examine their at-times problematic and even violent heritage and to build bridges and discourse between different communities.

Lunar wolf. Collages mounted on aluminum composite and phototex adhesive fabric. Various sizes and dimensions. ​From the Wanderings series, 2020, Anna Binta Diallo. 

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ANNA BINTA DIALLO WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE CANADA COUNCIL FOR THE ARTS FOR THEIR SUPPORT OF THIS PROJECT.

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