Milja Viita

Milja Viita’s (b. 1974) film installation at Serlachius, People on Sunday, refers in its name to the German classic film Menschen am Sonntag (1930). The film, which depicts the leisure time of young adults, is now seen above all as the “last summer” before the rise of Nazism and the devastation of the Second World War. In her own work, Viita reflects on the fragility of life, the cyclical nature of history and the inexorability of time. 

Can the fleeting moments of youth and life in general be captured on film? And what will they look like years or decades later? Have we learned anything from history, or are we doomed to make the same mistakes over and over again? The exhibition is curated by Tomi Moisio.

Milja Viita, people on Sunday, 2025, still image from the film installation.