Feeling Defensive (Part 1), 202515:50 video
Feeling Defensive emerged from Takala’s experience attending the “National Defence Course” — a coveted, invite-only training programme that the Finnish military has been organising since the 1960s, for those with influence in their fields. The four-week long course aims to rally support for national defence, and foster preparedness for crisis and war. Feeling Defensive delves into the Defence Courses’ role in the militarisation of Finnish society.
Feeling Defensive is a multi-year project with several different outcomes, the first iteration is a video reflecting on the impact of the course on its attendees, through a conversation between Takala and Johanna Vuorelma, a political researcher and former participant. They focus specifically on how the various elements of the course are designed to influence, and how they personally experienced that influence – finding themselves at different moments alienated, as well as drawn in. Even while remaining critical throughout and only going through the motions, the course choreography has a subtle effect that is hard to identify. Through this dialogue, Takala examines the social dynamics at play, shedding light on how the course cultivates pressure to conform, both socially and ideologically. As such, the National Defence Course is one way militarism and the ‘non-negotiable’ role of defence is disseminated throughout Finnish society.
Voices: Pilvi Takala and Johanna VuorelmaCamera and colour: Katharina DiessnerEditing: Pilvi TakalaSound editing: Pinja MustajokiAnimation: Jordana Maurer, Giorgio PoloniProduction assistants: Tuure Leppänen, Iona RoisinResearch assistant: Jessie Bullivant
Thank you: Jenni Ahti, Hanna Arvela, Lara Best-Dunkley, Sezgin Boynik, Constant Dullaart, Giovanna Esposito Yussif, Minna Henriksson, Emma Waltraud Howes, Reetta Huhtanen, Stine Marie Jacobsen, Adrian Lee, Ali MacGilp, Maria Pulli, Hans Rosenström, Samuli Sarén, Ellen WettmarkCommissioned by Meduza for the exhibition No, 2025Supported by Arts Promotion Center Finland and Linnamo Foundation
