Apart We Shall Perish / Erillään katoamme

Multidisciplinary project about importance of Soil
Greater Paris region, France and Raajärvi and Kevitsa mines, Finland
www.apartweshallperish.org
2023–

Funded by the Maj and Tor Nessling Foundation 2023–2024

Follow the project on Instagram @apartweshallperish or visit www.apartweshallperish.org.

The core of our practice is to restore a connection to land and soil, fostering more resilient forms of coexistence, a culture of care, and an understanding of the importance of soil microbiomes.

In 2023–2024, the project’s activities took place in France and Northern Finland, including work at two mining sites. In spring 2023, artists Nina Rantala and Visa Suonpää immersed themselves in urban greening initiatives and ecological thought in France. Through field trips, including visits to the forests of Fontainebleau, they applied regenerative methods as part of their artistic practice. The programme included the public discussion Invisible Supports the Visible (with Institut finlandais), an open studio at Cité International des Art, and a Korean Natural Farming workshop at Zone Sensible, as well as participation in a conversation with Professor AbdouMaliq Simone. The period was marked by an intensive exchange of ideas and practices.

In 2023–2024, the Apart We Shall perish team engaged young people in Northern Finland, bringing soil-related research into direct contact with lived environments and examining the impacts of mining. Together with plant ecologist Sari Stark from the University of Lapland, Nina Rantala guided over 100 young participants on field visits to mining sites—rarely accessible, highly controlled environments. These excursions created space for discussion on mining and its environmental implications. Students made sensory observations, reflected collectively on their experiences, and collected soil samples for further analysis at the Arctic Centre’s research laboratory. The sites included the unrestored Raajärvi iron mine in Kemijärvi and the Kevitsa multi-metal mine in Sodankylä, with the involvement of additional researchers and permitting authorities.