Here are some images from my exhibit of photographs and paintings (mostly aquarelles but also two acrylic paintings on canvas).
It is at the church we live next to (And where Indi goes to afternoon club), for this month. We had 110 refugees stay there in September. A few guys helped me hang the exhibit, making sure the lines are straight, and giving opinions about which goes next to which piece! One guy spoke English and translated to the others.Some of them already knew a little bit of Finnish.
They were moved to a new location yesterday, but I'm glad that they saw the photos, they asked if they were from Finland. Yes! The winters may look terrible, but rest of the year we have some pretty decent days too, and look, flowers too! :)
Honestly, the refugee situation has suddenly blown up and makes for a lot of heated discussion. The economy in Finland is bad too, which makes a lot of people say we have no money to take in so many refugees. Also the tensions between different cultures. It's a complicated situation.
I have thought about it a lot, and as a Christian I feel like I only have one option, love each person without reservation and prejudice. Who knows, maybe some of the muslims will be touched by the kindness and be open to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Anyway, back to the show! You may recognize many of the photos! They are printed on aluminum. It's kind of new technique, I like how they look and feel but I'm not sure about the durability.
My guests for the opening made me read the poem I had written that was the inspiration for the exhibition. I also hung it on the wall, none of the pieces have names so it gives something that relates to what I was feeling when doing this. A tiny bit of it.
I don't feel like I'm though with the theme at all. I want to paint some more on canvas, more water colors... of course take photos too, but that is just something I always do. Always carry my camera in my bag!
I'm already thinking about my next post which will hopefully be about practical matters, simplicity in material world and how it makes my mess of a life more manageable right now -just as it has ever since I discovered it as a way of living.
15 comments:
Beautiful watercolors! So glad you are blogging more often. Still praying for you and Indi.
What a beautiful exhibit!
I love the first image!!! Beautiful colours. Great that you're painting and exhibiting again, Vappu - did you sell any? I would have bought the first watercolour :-))
Yes, the migrant issue is the same in England. The UK is partly responsible for destabilising Syria and causing the mass migration - you reap what you sow. I think your approach is a good one. It's easy to fall into suspicion and prejudice and fear. I wouldn't want to stay and be be bombed every day.
Can't wait for your update on simplicity :-))
Thank you :)
I'm also glad I'm blogging and painting and trying to live more. Physically I feel better in a way, I think my crazy essential oil and supplement protocol is working.. On the other hand my autonomic nervous system is a mess and even though my mind stays positive, my body is in constant fight pr flight -mode!
The refugee /immigration chaos is so complicated. The people I have met, and majority of the people I think, come from real absolutely danger and desperation. Then there are a few bad apples, who in national television say that the food offered to them is only fit for dogs and women. It's the same food that is served to our kids in schools and to our elderly in nursing homes. I can understand that they are used to different kind of food. But in the refugee camps the children eat dirt and bits of scrap from the ground. So that get some people riled up badly and creates more conflict.
While I hope we could rescue more Christian brothers and sisters, it is very difficult to do in real life. I hear that a lot of Christian refugees can't even stay at the camps because of persecution! But at least if take people straight from the camps, we could get in more women and children. And it would slow down the illegal and dangerous business growing around transporting refugees.
What would I do in a similar situation? I would hope to get all the money I have in my hands and get my child and as many other as I could, out of there. The fate of many young girls is too unbearable to think about.
So as with every other person put there... we do not know what they have been through and in how much pain they are.
The offer of good food generously given is "not fit for dogs or women." What a nasty attitude - I don't care if there are cultural differences; this view is wrong on so many levels. They are in a place of safety and welcome. Yes, I agree - we must help refugees escaping danger - but what sort of people are among them...?
There are all kinds of people in all people groups. We don't know about them until we know. I'm sure there are some opportunists among the refugees, and the real refugees are angry and ashamed of them, and worry that they cause a lot of harm for the case of the people in real danger and need. Just like a bunch of racists on this side make the situation worse, and harder for real discussion about this mass immigration and refugees to happen. People get labeled as racists if they say as much as half a word against this current situation.
I don't think the right answer to these people spitting on our generosity and our food is to give them better food. They have a choice to eat or not eat. They are the ones who came here. But the refugees that stayed here in my neighborhood all seemed very thankful and wanted to help out in the kitchen and so on. Just normal people.
Some of the refugees had a demonstration with signs saying, "Thank you Finland".
It's a complicated issue, and while we do not need to, and should not, give up our own culture and embrace theirs as somehow better, we need to welcome them and help them adjust to OUR CULTURE while trying to weed out criminals and have a way of sending them out of the country.
I do think there is a huge opportunity for evagelism as well :) The gospel can change anyone :)
Your blog is just amazing! and these watercolours are great idea for every wall! :) http://wdsm.blogspot.com/
Your blog is just amazing! and these watercolours are great idea for every wall! :) http://wdsm.blogspot.com/
Your blog is just amazing! and these watercolours are great idea for every wall! :) http://wdsm.blogspot.com/
Your blog is just amazing! and these watercolours are great idea for every wall! :) http://wdsm.blogspot.com/
Your blog is just amazing! and these watercolours are great idea for every wall! :) http://wdsm.blogspot.com/
Your blog is just amazing! and these watercolours are great idea for every wall! :) http://wdsm.blogspot.com/
Your blog is just amazing! and these watercolours are great idea for every wall! :) http://wdsm.blogspot.com/
Your blog is just amazing! and these watercolours are great idea for every wall! :) http://wdsm.blogspot.com/
Yes, it's lovely to see you blogging again (I've just caught up on the last 3 posts). And the art work is great - and I'm sure therapeutic too.
I can't imagine refugees sleeping in churches here - and not that the church would not welcome them, but I'm sure there would be some 'rules'. But my church and so many others collect food for food banks, which is for people who can't afford to buy food (yes things are bad in the UK), and there is a call for people to give extra things like rice that will be useful for the refugees who will come soon.
I visited Syria more than 20 years ago, and the people I met were kind and showed me great generosity. I wonder what happened to those people who opened their homes to me and shared the food that they had. Many of them didn't have much - real simple living - but that didn't stop them being generous to a stranger.
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