Flowers, leaves, trees, objects, ink, plastic, aluminium, fabrics, stones, sand, people: countless elements and materials have been used over the years to compose and give life to installations dedicated to and inspired by the Third Paradise. Although the approaches and creative processes in the different parts of the world have been extremely varied over time, you can’t help being pleasantly impressed by the work created in Kuusamo, in the Finnish Lapland, on the occasion of the last Rebirth Day. A video and some photos showing an unprecedented Third Paradise of reindeer were enough to create a feeling of amazement in the author of this article. Yes, you read that right. Emotions would certainly have been running high in experiencing that performance in presence, with the sound of silence, the snow enveloping the senses, admiring that space of seemingly timeless wild nature. This dreamlike landscape, recalling that of a fairy tale, was the evocative setting for this performance that related art to animals and to the human being, who, through creativity, played the role of active spectator.
Behind the scenes of this representation of the trinamic symbol are Rebirth/Third Paradise ambassadresses Anne Murto and Eija Tarkiainen, who curated the Third Paradise by directing the spotlight on “the elements of living nature, in the presence of the spirits of the forest, the lake and the northern lights. In the vision of Arctic shamanism,” they explained, “the human being is never alone. He is the co-creator of every event, co-writer of the myth it enacts by living. In mythical times, the other author was the invisible: the spirits of the ancestors and the divine that dwells within every natural element. Culture therefore fully coincided with nature and the soul of the world. Today, man has rejected the invisible by demonising what is not measurable, controllable and predictable. He has elevated to co-creator a dualistic and utilitarian mind, which has claimed power over nature by plundering it”.
As explained by the two curators, the installation created by the Finnish Lapland embassy is intended to evoke the forces of nature so that, together with man, they may resume “travelling along that third path that can take us back to the paradise of the origins, to the Third Paradise prophesied by the artist Michelangelo Pistoletto”. Anne and Eija also pointed out that Arctic shamanic traditions are still alive and well, preserving the connection with nature and the sacred, and with the forces and archetypes that animate human nature. Not only that, the legacy of the mysteriosophic vision still inspires some traditional activities of the northern lands, such as the rearing of reindeer on theKujalan porotila, which provided the stars of the installation. The two curators said: “We would like to thank Jenni and Juha Kujala of the Kujalan porotila reindeer farm, which has been operating since 1860. In addition to rearing reindeer using traditional methods, they are committed to promoting sustainable tourism and local handicrafts”.
The harmonious relationship of synthesis between nature and artifice conveyed by the Third Paradise perfectly fits this context: “Here, culture and human activity,” they said, “are not opposed to nature, they include and support each other. Time is cyclical and the natural alternation of the seasons is also within man. In the darkness of the heart of winter, nature falls silent in a dense suspension of life, takes a deep breath to inspire the forces of the earth and channel them into seeds and underground roots, for a new dawn and rebirth. The human being also aligns himself intimately with this magical atmosphere, slows down his rhythms, discovers that silence is inhabited and that darkness reveals a mysterious light, capable of unveiling hidden treasures”. So what is the role of the trinamic symbol? “The Third Paradise,” they concluded, “symbolises the third path, the aesthetic one. The beauty that has no opposites in nature can replace the dual moralistic vision that divides events into right and wrong, good and evil, useful and useless. ‘Silent knowledge’ is revelation, creativity and the sacred, in the incessant giving and offering between nature and man, between the invisible and the visible, between night and day. The moments of enchantment, moments of ineffable joy when we discover ourselves to be part of the whole, cannot but rekindle in the individual the passionate desire for harmony, balance and freedom that we received as our birthright”.
