Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen: When I grow up, I will become a coat rack

The Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux supports Venice Biennale artist Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen as she debuts her first exhibition in the Netherlands. The solo exhibition When I grow up, I will become a coat rack opens at 1646, a leading contemporary art space in the heart of The Hague, on the 7th of February 2025.

In Wallinheimo-Heimonen’s glittering and futuristic worlds, blind people drive cars and the elderly wish for care robots to protect them from their human caregivers. In the exhibition When I grow up, I will become a coat rack, she invites us to better understand the consequences of excluding disabled people from decision making and technological innovation.

Wallinheimo-Heimonen highlights unnecessary dependencies between the disabled community and medical and social infrastructures that perpetuate the lower status of disability in society. Adjusting, fixing, rehabilitating or converting people to what is supposed to be normal is no longer politically correct for any minority, and it shouldn’t also be the case for disabled people.

In her playful and humorous worlds where things can be different, she makes us think critically about the potential of inclusion and awareness. In addition, she points out the contribution technology could make if understood from a place of joy and pleasure and what would change if quality of life was prioritised over profit, efficiency and ableism.

One of the highlights of the exhibition is How Great is Your Darkness?, a film originally created as a silent comedy for La Biennale di Venezia 2024. The film now features a unique score by Istanbul-based composer Kemal Gorey, specially commissioned by 1646. Gorey composed the music entirely based on the film’s audio description. The final mix was crafted by Slau Halatyn, at BeSharp Studio in New York City. The film is produced by Kenno Filmi.

The exhibition is curated by Clara Pallí Monguilod and Johan Gustavsson and supported by the Finnish Cultural Institute for the Benelux as part of the pARTir initiative, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU, and the Alfred Kordelin Foundation.

Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen:
Exhibition: When I grow up, I will become a coat rack
Location: 1646, The Hague, Netherlands
Dates: 7.2.2025 – 13.4.2025
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Image credits and alt text descriptions

Jenni-Juulia Wallinheimo-Heimonen, How Great is Your darkness, 2024, still from 2-channel video installation- 5min 22sec. Image by Rasoul Khorram. Courtesy the artist

Alt text: Disability activist Gunilla Sjövall lies back with a book on their chest. They are wearing brightly coloured, red clothes and have a pair of sunglasses resting on their forehead. Their beautiful long grey hair is spread out on the pillow. Gunilla Sjövall gives a middle finger to the camera.