Inni Pärnänen / The colours in Landscape and in Life 

Seven bracelets

Plywood, ink, and wax

When I met Cleide Tommila, I realized that we shared a deep connection through our experiences of landscapes. The colors of both unfamiliar and familiar places, and how the landscape influences one's state of mind, were something we both related to. The dark period of winter in Finland is difficult for both of us. Through this work, I also want to highlight the beauty found in the gray and translucent tones that are present in the Finnish landscape during the winter months.

Cleibe Tommila 

I’m both Brazilian and Finnish, I came to Finland in 1999, so I have been here 25 years. However, during this time, I moved back to my home country for three years and lived in Poland for one year and half. 

I came for family reasons; I met my ex-husband at Nokia in Brazil where we were both working, very much like the famous slogan “Nokia connecting people”. 

I started immediately studying the language, I’ve been working in my professional field since then, have had a Finnish family and an interest in learning the culture. 

Equality means rights, opportunities and treatment are equal for all, regardless of age, nationality, social status, race, gender, differences. 

In general, I feel like I experience equality on day-to-day basis. However, when it comes to my experience in the job market in Finland, I do experience inequal treatment. For example, recognizing that everyone has different starting points and different needs, and that structural and systemic advantages and disadvantages impact a person's access to resources, how they are perceived and evaluated, and whether they experience a sense of belonging. 

For me personally, Finland has been a great place to live, the only problem has been with having equality in the job market. Unfortunately, Finland has been changing towards less and less tolerance to differences. In this case, having a foreigner background, being over 50 years old, the discrimination has been clear. Finland would be a better place to live if there was more tolerance and inclusiveness towards diversity. 

It’s been a long process and still ongoing. I’d say I’ve become more Finnish throughout the years and that is visible through more introspection, more planning (for example putting my program in the calendar very well in advance, etc). I still struggle with the difficulty in making friends with Finns, in accepting certain elements of the culture such as the alcoholism and lack of openness to diversity in the job market. I also struggle with the lack of colours during winter, that affects me very much. 

Determination to find a job has been key, as well as my own professional competences and job history. I’d say I’m very much mixed between my own culture and the Finnish one. I’m an experienced professional who has deep and strong knowledge in my field, speak many languages, have worked for very relevant companies, and have international experience. I love travelling, I like arts, painting, handcraft, learning languages and love nature very much. I love learning about different countries and cultures. 

I feel like I’m very much influenced by both cultures, Brazil and Finland, most of the time more Finnish.