About

Field of Dreams is a communal, one-day, performative art installation. Admission is free, and people of all ages are welcome to join the open-air event, which takes place on a football field. Participants are invited to bring along their old football and exchange it for a new one.

Artist

Finland born visual artist SOPHIA EHRNROOTH has documented young Scandinavian football players since 2013. She has exhibited the first part of this series in Helsinki in 2015. In 2021 she held the Field of Dreams -installation at Bolt Arena, in Helsinki consisting of thousands of footballs arranged on the field.

Installation

The visually dramatic installation transports the viewer into the world of play and dreams.

Who is allowed to dream, who is permitted to play, and who is accepted as a team member? How can dreams be kept alive? How can they be refreshed and stay relevant?

Previous exhibitions

The first Field of Dreams was staged at Rome’s experimental MAAM Gallery of contemporary art (Museo dell’Altro e dell’Altrove) in 2019. The project was carried out with the involvement of children from the families of paperless immigrants. The project turned out to be an inspiring communal process that is documented in a short film 900 Footballs (2020).

Field of Dreams installation in Helsinki was carried out in August 2021. The Bolt Arena football stadium was filled with 2021 footballs for one day. In addition of the production team, assistance was provided by ten participants from the Job’d Migrant Youth Helsinki project, who gained their first on-the-job work experience by taking part in the project. After the event, the leftover footballs were distributed among youth football clubs and schools around Finland.