muistomaisema, 2025
Website and self-coded WordPress plugin (Muistomaisema – Kynttilä, version 1.7)
Muistomaisema was born out of a need to create a visually beautiful and meaningful place where one can remember and grieve. Loss can be the passing of a loved one, but it can equally be a life event or sorrow that requires its own space. Not everyone has a concrete place to mourn, and perhaps a digital space where one can light a candle can serve as a place for remembrance, expressing longing, and pausing. It can also act as a rite of passage forward if no physical place offers that.
I have thought a lot about loss and grief. One experience that stayed with me was a visit to a memorial grove, which in Finnish is called a "muistolehto." Traditionally, a "lehto" refers to a grove, a peaceful and natural wooded area. However, the memorial grove I visited was instead a stony place: a plaque in a stone on a stony square, a place far from the tranquil and intimate setting one might expect from a grove. The place offered nothing intimate or personal. There was no grave, just a small metal plaque in a barren environment, with not even benches to sit and be with the loss. This experience made me think about the importance of a memorial site. Perhaps a digital place where one can light a candle could serve as a place to remember, express longing, pause, and perhaps let go on some level—perform a concrete act that can also serve as a rite of passage forward.
In this context, the candle serves as a materialization of meaning and memory. In Jacques Derrida's thoughts on "the work of mourning" (travail du deuil), grief is seen as an active, ongoing interaction with loss. I have contemplated loss and its various manifestations, and Muistomaisema offers a space for visualizing grief, where the experience takes both individual and communal forms.
Grieving has taken on new forms with digitalization. People have memorial pages and memory walls where they can leave messages. My site is a continuation of this, but with a visual element that I hope can serve as a place for calm and reflection. I believe the environment matters, even in a digital context. It's important to have a beautiful place to go to, where one can find some peace and presence. If someone lives far from their loved ones' final resting places or cannot visit them for accessibility reasons, perhaps a digital equivalent could serve that purpose. I aim to create a serene and accessible environment that offers a sense of presence and connection.
The site is still in its beta version. The beta version does not work properly on mobile phones or tablets.