First time when words come naturally in Finnish. However, I did not find a suitable translation for the exhibition’s theme in Finnish. La Matière du Silence came to mind in French. When I was little, my mother took me somewhere in Switzerland. I was there for a long time, I no longer remember how long. When she returned, I no longer spoke Portuguese, only French. I remember it was difficult to return to Portugal, as I was no longer able to speak with my friends, and Portuguese did not come automatically.
I tried many times to translate the exhibition’s theme into Finnish, also because I have noticed how silence is sacred to you. I did not succeed. I also failed to feel like an ordinary person here. Although I tried for 17 years.
However, Galleria Becker has been one of the places where I was able to be together. It is a place where peace was found, because there the artists are artists. Thank you for accepting my art, again this year. I have counted the years and now it has been seven years since I left. Yet there is always joy in returning to this gallery, even though I do not speak perfect Finnish, or I am not Finnish, or my art is difficult to understand, or the works were created in a different language, a different culture, a different mind. I have always been welcome.
I am a citizen of the world, my father and mother were born in Africa, in a former colonial community. Although I do not have perfect white skin, my joy and colors cannot be extinguished. My creativity cannot be stopped. Every day I think about how I can bring better well-being to my life, and art is a profession where I can build my own universe, where I can build different meanings. Not just for myself, but also for you.
I have also noticed that although I try to be involved in the art scene and continue my work, people turn their backs on me and do not necessarily open doors where there is light and opportunity. However, I have returned to my studio and worked on the care of silence in art.
La Matière du Silence shows what I have done in Finland over the last 17 years, what I have now. The whole is different, just like me. The whole tells what silence has done to me.
Welcome to enjoy the sorrow and joy together.
Rita Vargas
Vargas is a visual artist and art historian Ph.D., working with sculpture, installation, graphics and photography. Her practice addresses migration and the formation of diasporic identity through material metaphors and layered imagery. Drawing from classical iconography, she combines woodcuts, photographic fragments, ceramics and cork to construct symbolic spaces where personal and collective histories intersect. Rooted in Portugal, shaped by Japanese influences and enriched by years spent in Finland, Vargas creates works that embrace theatricality and fragmentation as forms of resilience and transformation.
Event organiser:
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Name
Jyväskylän Taiteilijaseura ry
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E-mail address
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Phone
0408243031
Visit the event organiser’s website.
