In April 2024 Kaisu Koivisto began to create new photo-based series in Rome, focusing on the modernist architecture of Villaggio Olimpico, the Olympic Village. It was planned by architects Vittorio Cafiero, Adalberto Libera, Amedeo Luccichenti, Vincenzo Monaco and Luigi Moretti. Pierluigi Nervi’s monumental viaduct runs through the area.
The Olympic Village area was realized 1957 – 60 to house the athletes participating in the Olympic games in Rome in 1960. After the olympics it was converted into public housing. At Villaggio Olimpico the planning principles of the Modernist Movement meet historic Rome not far from the area. More recent additions to the architectural structures include Renzo Piano’s auditorium and Maxxi Museum by Zaha Hadid.
Koivisto photographs with digital and analogue media, seeking the changing soulcape of today. She chose to experiment with multiple exposures and half-frame photography. Koivisto’s artistic practice focuses on long term projects concerning the notion of changes in cityscapes – in metropolitan areas and historic cities like Rome, and also in smaller communities such as in Nuuk in Greenland.
Kaisu Koivisto’s residency period at the Finnish Institute in Rome was supported by the Culture Moves Europe mobility grants for artists, a project funded by the European Union and the Goethe-Institut.