Art historian Olga Smith was invited to respond to the exhibition Lintukoto.
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Lintukoto
Published: 13 November 2025 Author: Olga Smith
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Art historian Olga Smith was invited to respond to the exhibition Lintukoto.
“Lintukoto is a compound from Finnish lintu (bird) and koto (home). A bird’s home, a nest. Bird’s nests are everywhere in the exhibition, and in Henna Asikainen’s practice. The artist uses the association of the nest with home and refuge to explore the wider questions of belonging and displacement, across the interconnected ecologies of human and more-than-human relations. In Asikainen’s installation, the voices of the displaced persons merge with the dawn chorus, to bring out the connections between seasonal patterns of bird migration and migration as a human and political event. Human voices speak of a search for safety and refuge, each statement emerging from a personal experience, each voice with its own unique texture of tonality, intonation, and accent.”
Olga Smith
Olga Smith is an art historian and curator, based in the department of Fine Art, Newcastle University. With a focus on contemporary art, her research spans topics such as ecocriticism and landscape, and histories of photography.
Lintukoto is a new sound installation developed by artist Henna Asikainen in collaboration with landscape architect UsueRuiz Arana and composer Ben Ponton.
Taking its name from Finnish folklore, Lintukoto is a mythical haven at the far edges of the world, where the sky meets earth, and birds were thought to migrate to for winter.
Visit the gallery to experience this new sound work amidst a forest of birds’ nests. Listen to a chorus of voices both human and non-human that speak to migration, climate change, and the possibilities of creating sanctuary in an age marked by crisis.
Lintukoto has been developed in partnership with the Great North Museum: Hancock and the Natural History Society of Northumbria with support from Arts Council England and The Finnish Institute.
The NewBridge Project is a charity, registered charity no. 1173849.
We are grateful to our funders, including Arts Council England, Newcastle City Council, Garfield Weston Foundation, Jerwood Foundation, Community Foundation North East, Newcastle University and the The North East Mayoral Strategic Authority.
We are proud to be a Gallery of Sanctuary.
