In the Bogs of Joukahainen and Väinämöinen – The Alchemies of Peat from Sacred to Profane and Back

Authors

• Tiina Pusa Aalto University
• Riikka Haapalainen University of the Arts Helsinki
• Helena Sederholm Aalto University

DOI: https://doi.org/10.54916/rae.126192

Keywords:

peat, bog, swamp, Anthropocene, performativity, art, postdigital art, art history, rewriting, politics, cultural history, Modernity

Abstract

Peat bogs play a special role in Finnish cultural history, climate policy, economic life, and art. This article examines the performative meaning-making of peat and aims to rewrite with and through art and cultural heritage the human-centered endeavors of peatland and to create parallel ways of being with the materiality of peat. The article consists of three partly intertwined discourses: 1) the mythical pre-modern bog scene found, 2) this scene transformed in modern times into a site of control and profit, and 3) human-centered peat work is challenged by the demands of climate actions, the Anthropocene, and the posthuman landscape.