Dreaming Bear is a video installation that invites visitors to experience the bear’s annual cycle within the museum setting. The work consists of the rhythm of breathing, the Finnish bear myth, and a low frequency sound structure designed for the space. Together, they serve to create an experience of time slowing down. The video work examines the bear’s hibernation and its significance as a symbol of ancestry and renewal in northern mythology. The work includes video footage from the winter den of the Bear Castle in Korkeasaari Zoo, recorded in winter 2024.

Aino Venna (b. 1982) is a Helsinki-based composer and writer whose artistic practice weaves together sound, language, mythology, and embodied research. Their work is grounded in cyclical time, shadow exploration, and archaic forms of knowing. Venna is currently focused on compositions and writings inspired by rituals, examining the invisible structures that shape our personal and collective experiences.

Dreaming Bear is on view in EMMA’s Luova space from 19 March 2026 to 28 February 2027 whenever the space is not used for meetings. Versions subtitled in Finnish and English alternate. The version subtitled in Finnish starts every hour on the hour and at half past.

Duration: 14 min

Choir: Ulla Korpela, Laura Suhonen
Sound recordist: Tony Sheng
English translation: Simo Vassinen