Sometimes it's affection — Cecelia Graham

Sometimes it’s affection
April 2024
Mustarinda, Finland

A sharing session with fellow residents and neighbours living in the Hyrynsalmi area at Mustarinda, Finland. We discussed alternative and often invisible economies of friendship, including:

🤝 ad hoc tool sharing
🤝 distributing leftovers
🤝 reciprocal tasks such as snow clearing
🤝 sharing recipes and advice

The session took place during snow season and at Mustarinda, which is situated beside the rich forest ecology of Paljakka. This further situated our conversation, as we discussed the tasks needs to maintain and support one another when paths aren’t traversable in the land. The session took place amognst collective path making in the forest, the fermentation of drinks using dried plants from previous harvests including Fireweed Mead, and traditional baking often shared with neighbours.

The Mustarinda team provided translation support during the session.

Drinks shared included:

🍓 Strawberry Kvass // Mansikka ja Nokkonen
🌸 Fireweed Mead with lemon balm and wandering lavendar // Maitohorsma ja Sitruunamelissa
🍊 Orange and cardamon syrup // Appelsina ja Kardemumma
☘️ Raspberry and sweet cicely shrub // Valdema ja Saksan Kirveli