Simka

Floating Trunks" is a art installation for 2014 European Capitals of Culture Umeå and Riga but also first shown in Pori. Three cities by the Baltic Sea. SIMKA is the project name for the visual artists Simon Häggblom’s and Karin Lind’s shared artistic activities. Through SIMKA they combine their knowledge and skill from visual art, set design and landscape architecture. By the river shore in central Umeå we propose a colony of floating trees. Most of them birches. Wrapped in layers of textiles (balled and bur lapped), planted in large life buoys; swaying in the streams of the Umeå river. A choreography of water and wind. Some birches have emigrated to the Kokemäki river by Pori Art Museum, others to the Daugava and the floating Gallery Noass in Riga. The same thing is happening in Pori and Riga; pine and fir trees representing Riga and Pori respectively. 15 local trees and 3 + 3 guests. Emigration - Immigration. We want to signify the importance of the Baltic Sea for travelling and cross-border meetings and as a continent in its own right.