Curator Sam Watson and artist Sini Pelkki met in Helsinki during Watson’s exchange at Helsinki International Artist Programme (HIAP). The writer, designer and curator worked at HIAP as part of M0bius – the fellowship program that brings visual arts, museum and archive professionals from New York, the UK, Ireland and Finland together. The aim of the programme is to encourage long-lasting professional relationships – such as the collaboration between Watson and Pelkki.

Pelkki, a Helsinki-based artist working with photographs and moving image, is one of the six artists and collaborators of Continuous Material. The exhibition explores the sites of Durham Castle, Durham UNESCO World Heritage Site and the contemporary art gallery Drop City in Newcastle.

“The various works and collaborations presented in Continuous Material all come from questions of the relationship and space that is formed between the work and the viewer,” curator Watson describes. He was invited to produce an exhibition for Durham Castle Museum together with the artist Eleanor Wright.

Through the practices of all the contributors, and their individual approaches to objects and storytelling, Continuous Material explores how the artworks they produce suggest narrative worlds each with their own set of rules and parameters.

“We were interested in developing a project that continues our shared interest in concepts of collaboration, and the methods that are often at the heart of artists, curators and designers – developing works and practices that often overlap or are synonymous with each other even in practices that initially seem so distinct or disparate,” he says.

Pelkki will show her film ‘Embarkation’ in the exhibition.

“Sini's approach to photography and moving image resonates, for me, with an approach that Finland's great artists and designers have to life – producing works that at their core lies a sensitivity and intuitive exploration into the relations that exist between people and our physical environments,” Watson comments.

The other artists are Eric Bainbridge, Paul Becker, Ralf Brög, Aleksandra Konope and Josh Wilson.

Public opening of Continuous Material at Durham Castle 1 May, 7.30pm – 9pm. The exhibition continues until 24 May.

More information about M0bius exchange here