The Voice that Remains

‘The Voice that Remains’ is a kind of retrospective; a looking back at material, digital and archival traces left behind within the physical and situated space of PUBLICS, and in the bodies, voices and memories of those who have worked with us in the past years. Each photo, mark and word collected in these pages reflects a collective happening and the labour undertaken to bring a work of art or a piece of research into PUBLICS to be shared with others. The Voice that Remains is a snapshot of PUBLICS’ present, where we, who have only recently come to be part of its making, have gathered some of the traces of its programme, keepsakes and leftovers of the last half decade or so. What’s left behind as reminders, remainders or rememberings of what once was, is what we have had to work with–to learn how to be PUBLICS, to decide on how to move next, to insert ourselves into the shapeshifting of a small cultural organisation.The publication includes artworks, traces and leftovers by Marja Ahti, David Blamey, Kathrin Böhm, Tony Cokes, DeForrest Brown Jr., Eilien & Lenoczka, Merike Estna, Laia Estruch, Annie Goh, Mindy Seu & Helen Kaplinsky, Liam Gillick, Gordon Hall, Jeanne van Heeswijk, James Hoff, Vlatka Horvat, Maryam Jafri, Agnė Jokšė, Mikko Kuorinki, Sandra Kosorotova, Chris Kraus, Tuukka Kaila, KMRU, Mona Marzouk, Dave McKenzie, Gareth Long, Elisabeth Molin, Marge Monko, Maarit Mustonen, Moe Mustafa / Atheer Soot, Lau Nau, OEI, Harold Offeh, Anni Puolakka & Marta Trektere, PUBLICS Youth, Sara Raza, Nick Thurston, Ian Whittlesea, Timo Vaittinen and many, many others. PUBLICS is a curatorial and commissioning agency with a dedicated research library and event space in Helsinki, Finland. Under the artistic direction of curator Paul O’Neill, and team members Annabelle Antas, Valentina Černiauskaitė, Micol Curatolo, and PUBLICS Youth. PUBLICS explores a “work together” institutional model with multiple overlapping objectives, thematic strands and collaborations. PUBLICS develops out of Checkpoint Helsinki, a contemporary art initiative established in 2013. Since the opening in 2017, PUBLICS was developed by Paul O’Neill and Eliisa Suvant.