Join us for a walk between worlds – Launch of Protocols for Melting
Protocols for Melting, a work by artists Joonas Hyvönen (FI) and Līga Spunde (LV), invites you on a site-specific augmented reality (AR) walk. It leads participants through the forest trails of Helsinki Central Park in Maunula and into the quiet landscapes of the Great Cemetery in Riga.
Protocols for Melting is a site-responsive augmented reality (AR) walk unfolding in two cities, Helsinki and Riga. Guided by a custom-built “compass”, an animated avatar, walkers follow a looping path punctuated by geolocated digital interventions — AR trail signs that come alive in a darkly comedic tragedy of wayfinding under the late-capitalist attention economy.
In Helsinki, the work draws from the recently introduced, often ambiguous park signage and local resistance to a proposed snow dumping site, exploring tensions between orientation, control, and ecological stress. In Riga, the piece shifts into a kind of celebratory funeral march, laying those same themes to rest amid the stillness of the cemetery turned park.
Launching Events
Helsinki
Helsinki Central Park and Maunula House
25 September 2025
Maunula House, Metsäpurontie 4
17:00 Walk at the Helsinki Central Park. Starting point from Maunula House.
18:30–19:45 Artist talk & discussion of snow dumping area
After the artist talk (in English) activists Susanna Pitkänen and Mina Laamo will spark conversation on Helsinki City’s plan to establish a site for snow dumping in the Keskuspuisto (in Finnish).
Riga
Great Cemetery and Festival Survival Kit / Grīziņdārzs
27 September 2025
17:00 Starting of the walk point at Great Cemetery Parking lot on Miera Street.
18:30 Artist talk will take place at the creative city Grīziņdārzs (Zemitāna iela 9, Rīga)
Participating
Please book your place for the launch walks in Helsinki and Riga through this link. We kindly ask you to bring your own smart phone or tablet with internet access to experience the work. Please let us know in advance if you would like us to provide you one for the launching event.
The artwork can be experienced as part of guided collective walks during the launch events in both cities, and afterwards independently until the end of September 2026 on site and on the project website.
Entrance: Free
Language: English. The conversation between Laamo and Pitkänen will be held in Finnish.
About
Līga Spunde (b. 1990) is a visual artist based in Riga, Latvia. She presents her works as multimedia installations, intertwining personal stories with deliberate fiction. The interpretations and use of recognisable characters serve as an extension of her personal experiences, tapping into universal truths. The work’s content determines the conception’s physical form leading the artist to use various media and materials in her installations.
Joonas Hyvönen (b. 1990) is an artist working primarily with digital media, film, and games. His works are often narrative-driven studies utilizing storytelling as an instrument of reflection. Hyvönen graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in 2016 with a Master’s degree in Fine Arts.
This collaboration is presented by Art & Media Culture Agency M-Cult and the Latvian Center for Contemporary Art LCCA as part of LCCA’s 25th anniversary programme and continues M-Cult’s long-standing engagement with Helsinki’s Central Park. In Helsinki, the launching event is organised in collaboration with Maunula House. The project is supported by Nordic Culture Point, Riga City Council and the State Culture Capital Foundation of Latvia.
@mcult.helsinki
https://www.m-cult.org/
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