100 Hectares of Understanding is my attempt to understand the 100 hectare area of the forest I own. It’s impossible to overstate the significance of forests for Finland, both historically and economically. 78% of the total area of the country is covered by forest – that’s over 20 million hectares. Throughout adulthood my relationship with the forest has been somewhat discordant and attitude towards my future inheritance has been indifferent. Recent explorations in the forest, and in the world of forestry have managed to provoke my interest towards unfamiliar property of mine. The 100 Hectares of Understanding project includes both tangible and intangible approaches and visualizations of what forest and forestry mean to me and how the unknown becomes familiar. I study what nature has to offer to urbanized people and I will try to create new ways of thinking and ways to experience and feel the forest.
Jaakko Kahilaniemi (1989, Finland) is a Finnish photographer and visual artist. He holds an BA in photography from Turku Arts Academy, Finland and and he is graduating MA in photography at Aalto University of Arts and Design, Helsinki Finland in May 2018. His project 100 Hectares of Understanding was presented in the Finnish Museum of Photography in Vienna Contemporary, in Paris Photo, in Photo London and in Artissima, Torino, in group shows over Europe. He won the Majaoja/Backlight prize in 2017 and was chosen as one of the Lens Culture Emerging Talents 2017, also as one of the ten finalist in Hyéres Festival 2018.. He is represented by Gallery Taik Persons, Berlin, Germany.
