We’re now just a little past the halfway point in our residency here at SUMU and couldn’t be happier with the way things have gone thus far. The opening last week was well attended and we saw a lot of familiar faces as well as making some new acquaintances. We were really pleased that all of our new friends in Turku were so interested in the project we’d been working on.
Not only has the staff at SUMU/Titanik been extremely friendly and helpful, but so have all of the gallery’s artists that we’ve met. They’ve really gone out of their way to make our stay pleasant and we wouldn’t have been able to complete the sauna without their willingness to show us around, drive us around, lend us bikes, and just generally be incredible hosts and facilitators. For that matter we’ve found Turku in general to be extremely friendly, hospitable and tolerant of our attempts at Finnish.
The residency has been an excellent experience personally and professionally. The project we created here has exceeded our expectations in all ways, most importantly in how positively people have responded to it. It’s also been a great experience learning about Finnish culture and people and we’re happy to have made so many friends with whom we hope to keep in touch for a long time to come.
We’re looking forward to The Night of the Arts this Thursday, August 12th. The gallery will be open late and we’re hoping to see some familiar faces as well as many new ones.