*Road to Heaven I* is a participatory, material-based installation by Kaisa Salmi that explores the concept of memory; in it, thousands of discarded shoes, white paint, and a soundscape combine to form a spatial whole. Through artistic means, the work transforms everyday, discarded material into a metaphor for remembrance, absence, and humanity.
The work also incorporates a soundscape that expands the visual experience of the installation into a spatial and sensory whole. The shoes, the landscape they create, and the sound collectively build an environment where the viewer is compelled to confront both the physicality of the material and the historical and human meanings associated with it.
The work bears a deliberate connection to the history of the Holocaust and the remembrance of its atrocities. The shoes carry profound historical significance: personal belongings of Holocaust victims—such as shoes—have remained as tangible evidence of the fates of millions of people. Salmi’s work does not depict the historical event directly; instead, it uses the shoe as a material to address themes of remembrance, absence, loss, and human dignity.
Salmi collected thousands of shoes destined for the landfill and painted them white. The white color transformed these worn, individual objects into part of a unified, almost surreal landscape. The work also took on a participatory dimension as people brought their own broken or discarded shoes to be painted and incorporated into the installation. In this way, the work’s material and content emerged partly in collaboration with the audience.
*Road to Heaven I* and *II* were realized at Kultuurikatel and in the outdoor space of Rotermann Square in Tallinn in 2012. The work was subsequently presented at the Stoa Gallery and Tallinnanaukio Square in Helsinki later that same year. Bringing the work into the public spaces of these two cities integrated themes of remembrance, participation, and materiality into the urban environment.
This was Kaisa Salmi’s second project in Tallinn. Salmi had been selected as the Finnish Institute’s “Finnish Artist of the Year in Estonia,” and the work was created as part of this residency.
The work was commissioned by the Finnish Institute, with Riitta Heinämaa and Maimu Berg collaborating on the project.
Work Details
Title: *Road to Heaven I* / *Tee taevasse*
Medium: Material-based installation and sound piece; participatory environmental art
Year: 2012
Locations: Kultuurikatel and Rotermann Square, Tallinn; Stoa Gallery and Tallinnanaukio Square, Helsinki
Material: Discarded shoes painted white
Sound: Integrated soundscape
Themes: Memory, absence, humanity, journeying, loss, and history
Special feature: Public participation through the contribution of personal shoes to the installation
Commissioner: The Finnish Institute
In collaboration with: Riitta Heinämaa and Maimu Berg
Context: The Finnish Institute’s “Finnish Artist of the Year in Estonia” program
