Jonna Kina’s Secret Words and Related Stories video work will be on display at the Kirpilä Art Collection from October 24 to November 17, 2024. The work consists of anonymously collected passwords and the stories behind them, exploring the concept of security and personal “secrets” in contemporary society. By examining these passwords, the work unravels how security connects to identity—how passwords act as compressed fragments of language, encoding physical history and memory to access various services in the virtual world.
In the video, young actors aged 12 to 16 stand against a red backdrop, reading from sheets of paper, narrating personal confessions, childhood memories, and clichéd rationalizations tied to these passwords. These stories are, at turns, thoughtful, humorous, and emotional, transforming simple chosen words into windows that reveal personal information—the very opposite of a password’s intended function.
On the opening night, Thursday, October 24, actors Johannes Holopainen and Alina Tomnikov will perform (in Finnish) two readings at 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM, presenting true stories behind passwords anonymously shared with artist Jonna Kina. These stories reflect the tension between public and private, as the passwords, originally created to protect, often disclose deeply personal memories or references. Admission to both the exhibition and the opening performance is free.
Jonna Kina (b. 1984) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki, and Aalto University’s School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Her works have been widely exhibited internationally in in international exhibitions and festivals such as the Tokyo Photographic Art Museum, Berlinale Forum Expanded Cinema Program in Berlin, Kumu Art Museum in Tallinn, Kunsthal Charlottenborg in Copenhagen, EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Galleria delle Carrozze di Palazzo Medici Riccardi in Florence, Musée de l’Elysée in Lausanne, and at the International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR). Kina’s film Arr. for a Scene was awarded Best Nordic Short Film at Nordisk Panorama in 2017, and that same year, she was nominated for the VISIO Young Talent Acquisition Prize in Florence. Kina has participated in the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s residency program twice: in 2023 at the Fabrikken residency in Denmark, and in 2018 at Tokyo Arts and Space (TOKAS).
Jonna Kina: Secret Words and Related Stories at the Kirpilä Art Collection during museum opening hours, October 24–November 17, 2024.
Still image: Jonna Kina, Secret Words and Related Stories, 2013–2016, 4K, 20 min 12 sec