time’s memory – ajan muisti

22 x 30 x 5 cm, three books in cardboard box with metal plate inlay, hot foil embossing on linen hard cover, photo collages in pigment print on Kozo 21gm, Inoshi 12 gm and Rakusui 9 gm papers, Japanese binding by Thomas Lüttich, Weimar, Germany, edition of 7.

Kai Ekholm, former chief of the National Library of Finland, requested this project in view of the centenary of Finland. The quest was to define the role of the National Library as “time capsule” of the nation’s memory. Three books, time, space and memory, tell in five languages Finnish, Swedish, Russian and German the stories of this library’s history, architecture, its collections and people working with them through the eyes of the artist. Material, texture and imagery – all were chosen according to the memory of a cultural identity. Text by Mika Karhu and Tatjana Bergelt. Poem by Nils Aslak Valkeapää. Quotes from The Library at night by Alberto Manguel. Translations by Tatjana Bergelt, Heikki Karjalainen. Pekka Sammanlahti and Christine Schlosser.