Ritva and Lumi Tuomi: Muaman sadu (Mother’s Garden) | Poriginal

Muaman sadu (Mother’s Garden) examines the everyday life of three generations of Karelians in the embrace of a shared garden, investigating the intertwined fates of people and plants. In the exhibition, photographs by two generations of artists merge and depict the garden as a living archive of Karelian culture

After the war, Karelian evacuees lost their centuries-old connections to plants, waterways and the land. For many evacuees and their families, the yards and gardens established in new localities became replicas of their lost homes, places of refuge where their own culture could be practiced.

The exhibition highlights the significance of heirloom and traditional plants, as well as the seeds and seedlings brought by evacuees from Karelia across the border. The works mirror plant heritage to the endangered Karelian language and fading traditions of gardening — diverse cultural heritage that would disappear without human care.

At the heart of the exhibition are gardens established in a shared family yard in Espoo and cottage in Vihti by the artists’ mother and grandmother Maiju, that they tend to together. In the works spanning the 1980s to the present, the artists examine how Karelian culture has preserved in their works, which have become a collaboration between generations and species.

The exhibition aims to sensitise the viewer to the labour of preserving heirloom plants and cultural heritage, but also to the shared recovery of people and nature in the garden. The participatory work Pala maata (Piece of Land) invites you to physically experience the value of a delicate seed and, if you wish, to carry it with you.

Ritva Tuomi is a photographer and a gardener, in whose works Karelian heritage is present. She studied photography at the Lahti Institute of Design 1985-1989. Since 1987, Tuomi has photographed moments in her garden, from harvest to decay, from children growing up to adulthood and finally saying goodbye to her parents. Her works have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions including Helsinki Art Museum, Photographic Gallery Hippolyte, Les Rencontres d’Arles, and PhotoVogue Festival in Milan. She won Kodak Award -competition in 1990 and received Fotofinlandia-prize in 1992. Tuomi’s works are in the collections of Helsinki Art Museum, Kiasma, Little Parliament and the Finnish State Art Commission.

Lumi Tuomi (b. 1997) is a Finnish-Karelian visual artist. They work with photography, textile and hair-based works, and is inspired by the crossing of handcraft and contemporary art. Tuomi currently finalises their master’s degree in Photography in Aalto University. They graduated from the photography department of Royal Academy of Art (KABK) in 2021. Tuomi’s works have been exhibited in Amos Rex and Amos Anderson Art Museum’s Generation-exhibitions, Virkki Home Museum and Lokal gallery. Their works are in the collections of the Finnish State Art Commission and the Finnish Museum of Photography.

Kuva: Ritva Tuomi ja Lumi Tuomi, Lahja (Kanneljärven tammi), 2025