Notes on Wind is based on the exchange of letters between choreographer and visual artist Anne Naukkarinen and visual artist Anatole Chartier from May to June 2025. Notes on Wind is a poetic greeting between two artists living in different countries who have never met each other. Artists who are unknown to each other write about their shared interest – the wind.
The correspondence between the Finnish and French artists was conducted in two different languages, each writing in their own native language. Institut finlandais acted as interpreter for the translations of the poetic messages. The final text is published as a poster designed by graphic designer Lia Pradal (Editions Païen) and on the Institut finlandais website in Finnish, French and English.
The concept of Notes on Wind stems from Naukkarinen’s work A Book of Dances, a collection of choreographies written by seven different artists based in Finland and Sweden, published by Moving in November and TUA (Theatre’s New Base Library). The book explores language as a writing-based approach to choreographic practice. It brings attention to the contradictions, translations, and intimate relationships between dance and language.
Notes on Wind is an artistic project that proposes an alternative to international artist mobility and a responsible way to network in the field of visual art and choreography.
Notes on wind
would you like to write a dance with me?
12.05.2025
A: kävelen lähimmälle rannalle
Marjaniemen uimaranta, Helsinki 00930
leveysaste 60.1986° N
pituusaste 25.0759° E
tuuliennuste:
linnut, leijat, lentokoneet
hiukset suussa, kylmät sormet, räkäinen nenä vuotaa, jähmettyy, tarrautuu
viheliäs puuska,
kun hengitän ulos, lepattavat kylkiluuni lähemmäs toisiaan lepattavat lehdet ja lokin siivet
sisäänhengittäessä tarkentuu muuttuva näkymätön näkymä niin se syleilee
entä siellä tuulen toisessa päässä, liikutko?
12.05.2025
A: I’m walking to the nearest beach
Marjaniemi Beach, Helsinki 00930
latitude 60.1986° N
longitude 25.0759° E
wind forecast:
birds, kites, airplanes
hair in the mouth, cold fingers, runny nose, freezes, sticks
nasty gust,
when I exhale, flutter my ribs closer flutter the leaves and the seagull wings
as I inhale, the changing invisible view comes into focus, embracing so
and at the other end of the wind, are you moving?
19.05.2025
A: pyöräretki
Avenue Simon Bolivar, Paris 75019
leveysaste : 48.880811° N
pituusaste : 2.373836° E
kiirehdin pyörällä alas rinnettä,
kaupunki levittää pölynsä silmiini.
se häiritsee polkuani ja horjuttaa luottamustani.
juuri nyt tunnen itseni väsyneeksi, leijuvaksi.
siispä uskon polkuni vanhalle ystävälle,
joka muuttaa kertomuksia.
hän vetää minut maasta ja kantaa mukanaan.
annan pääni leijua, hiusteni
ripsieni räpytellä.
tänään tuuli on kylmä.
kuka se on sinulle?
19.05.2025
A: bike trip
Avenue Simon Bolivar, Paris 75019
latitude : 48.880811° N
longitude : 2.373836° E
I’m speeding down the slope on my bike,
the city spreads its dust in my eyes.
it disturbs my path and shakes my confidence.
right now I feel tired, floating.
so I entrust my path to the old friend,
who changes stories.
he pulls me from the ground and carries me with him.
I let my head float, my hair
my eyelashes fluttering.
today the wind is cold.
who is it to you?
22.05.2025
kuulin tänään vihellyksen
istuuduin ikkunan ääreen ja avasin ikkunan
yllättäen se kuului:
halusin myös viheltää
muodostin huulistani tiheän, ryttyisen aukon
puhalsin ilmaa ulos
hutera ääni tervehti väristen toista viheltäjää, vanhaa ystävää
A, vihellätkö kanssani huomenna klo 21.00 (UTC+3)?
22.05.2025
I heard a whistle today
sat by the window and opened it
suddenly it was there:
I wanted to whistle too
formed my lips into a tight, wrinkled opening,
blew air out
a shaky, trembling sound greeted another, an old friend
A, will you whistle with me tomorrow at 21:00 (UTC+3)?
01.06.2025
sunnuntai-iltapäivä
39 rue Doudeauville, Pariisi 75018
leveysaste: 48.888191° N
pituusaste: 2.354029° E
sinä viheltelet ja kutsut minut viheltämään
olen siellä, A.
pääni sisällä on hieman myrskyisää,
olen altistunut liikaa ilmalle, minua huimaa
ja tässä minä
heittelehdin kahden ammottavan ikkunan välissä.
mistä löydät puhalluksen?
pystytkö hengittämään? Ja jopa viheltämään!
rintakehässäni ei ole tarpeeksi tilaa
tälle kaikelle voimakkuudelle
mutta melodiasi inspiroi minua polulla
ehkä sinä, vanha ystävä, ja minä
matkaamme kolmistaan?
nähdään illalla
01.06.2025
A: Sunday afternoon
39 rue Doudeauville, Paris 75018
latitude: 48.888191° N
longitude: 2.354029° E
you whistle and invite me to whistle
I will be there, A.
it’s a bit stormy inside my head,
I gave myself too much to the air, I am dizzy
and here I am
tossed between two gaping windows.
where do you find this blow?
you can breathe? And even whistle!
my chest doesn’t have enough space
for all this volume
but your melody inspires me on the path
perhaps you, the old friend, and I
will travel together?
see you tonight
06.06.2025
mistä löydän puhalluksen, kysyit
kysyit, pystynkö hengittämään
yritän hengittää
puhaltaa lepattaen kaiken välissä
A, huimaus on tuttua minullekin
halusin pyöräillä niin kuin sinäkin
hyppäsin pyörän selkään
pyöräilin, reisissä kihisi polte
housunlahkeet lepattivat
sormet jähmettyivät kylmyydestä, kesäkuussa
tuuliennuste on pitänyt paikkansa
sinä, vanha ystävä, ja minä matkataan
A, milloin tuulen suunta muuttuu?
06.06.2025
where can I find a blow, you asked
you asked if I can breathe
I try to breathe
blow fluttering in between
A, I’m familiar with dizziness too
I wanted to cycle like you
I jumped on the bike
I cycled, my thighs were burning
my trousers were fluttering
my fingers were frozen from the cold, in June
the wind forecast has been right
you, old friend, and I are traveling
A, when will the wind change direction?
09.06.2025
pyöräilen metrolla
voittaakseni sateen
seison liukkaalla laiturilla,
asutan ilolla
alustamme,
asetetaan kurssi ja lähdetään liikkeelle
tunnen sen työntävän meitä eteenpäin
paitani turpoaa, käsivartemme kohoavat
voisiko tämä olla se suunta?
noniin, olemme valmiita
A, mennäänkö?
09.06.2025
biking on the subway
to trick the rain
standing on the slippery quay,
it’s with joy that I inhabit
our vessel,
let’s set the course and get swept away
I feel it pushing and us along
my shirt swells, our arms rise
could this be the direction?
that’s it, we’re ready
A, shall we go?
Anne Naukkarinen (b. 1987) is a Helsinki-based choreographer and visual artist working at the intersections of performance art, choreography, and visual arts. In her artworks, she explores intimate and complex human experiences—emotions, affects, sensations, and thoughts in motion, always in relation to specific situations and environments. Her methods draw from dance and somatic practices, and she is particularly interested in collecting and accumulating material through note-making, correspondence, and recording. Her primary mediums are live performances, publications, and installations.
Naukkarinen has created artworks for dance, performance, and visual arts contexts, as well as for site-specific locations. Her recent works have been presented at Moving in November, Moderna Dansteatern – MDT, Mad House Helsinki, Titanik Gallery, SIC Gallery, Kunsthalle Helsinki, and Contemporary Art Space Kutomo. Naukkarinen is currently creating a new site-responsive performance Jousikvartetto/ String Quartet curated by Riikka Thitz and i dolci.
She holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts, Helsinki (2020), and a Bachelor’s degree in Dance from the Theatre Academy, Helsinki (2015). She also studied at the Inter-University Centre for Dance Berlin (HZT) in 2014.
Anatole Chartier is a visual artist whose practice explores the interactions between the body, natural elements, and post-technological narratives. Through installations, performances, and speculative objects he calls “transducers,” he questions our relationship to extra-human forces, such as wind or sand, and imagines scenarios for adapting to a changing world. A 2023 graduate of the EESI in Poitiers, he regularly collaborates with critics and researchers to deepen the theoretical dimensions of his work. His works, often participatory, encourage collective listening and reflection on resilient and alternative ways of life.
The project Notes on Wind is supported by Institut finlandais within the framework of the pARTir initiative, funded by the European Union – NextGenerationEU.
