Helsinki is feeling LOVED

London just finished its Pride weekend and now it’s Helsinki’s turn to celebrate with LOVED exhibition, among other events.

The most comprehensive version of the LOVED exhibition finds its home in Creat Space, Helsinki, Finland, 28 June to 10 July 2016.

LOVED is a gallery collaboration between visual artist Charlie Hunter and sound designer and filmmaker Mike Wyeld.

With the assistance of Creat Space (Helsinki, Finland), Bearty (Tallinn, Estonia), and The Finnish Institute in London, this exhibition brings to life the heroic stories of everyday members of the LGBT community, some call themselves bears, some refuse to define themselves.

The installation is an exploration of (sexual) identity. The prints show the outward signs of bear identity; the sound installation and technical elements open up the details of this (now global) community to scrutiny – the sitters and others discuss what a “bear” might be, and the problems of living their identities.

LGBTQ people often find ourselves equal parts credited and accused of igniting social change – from civil rights to gentrification, it is easy to project polemic onto such a diverse group – a group who still rankle and illuminate the darkened corners of love.

While myths of beauty and ideas around body shape, fitness, even obesity are hotly debated in mainstream culture, some people have found acceptance in a relatively new movement, formed new alliances and set in motion new ideas, they are "LOVED."

For Helsinki, LOVED moves far beyond its first incarnation in Provincetown Massachusetts and later Tallinn Estonia, to create a wider understanding of what this seductive community brings to the cultures it inhabits.

LOVED Helsinki
Creat Space, Helsinki, 00150
28 June 2016 – 10 July 2016
Open everyday from 12am to 6pm