ATHABASCA – Pirkko Karvonen is many things; the soon-to-be 90-year-old is a mother, an internationally renowned textile artist, an environmentalist, a filmmaker, and much more. Thanks to Science Outreach – Athabasca, she got a chance to be in the spotlight with the organization she helped grow.
Long-time residents, family friends, and film fans gathered in the Athabasca University (AU) governing chambers for a Jan. 22 matinee showing of Karvonen’s “Strings Across the Sky,” a 40 minute documentary about acclaimed Canadian violinist Andrea Hansen and her work to keep fiddling alive in the North.
“This was one of her favorite films she made over the years,” said Linda Lindbelle, Science Outreach – Athabasca’s coordinator. “The Karvonen’s have been such huge supports and we’ve always really appreciated them.”
Joining Karvonen was her daughter, Ava, a filmmaker and documentarian who’s filming her mother to create a piece that explores aging, seniors, and the relationship between a mother and a daughter.
“It’s important for seniors to do a knowledge transfer, they have so much to share,” said the younger Karvonen, who introduced her mom to the audience.
“Other generations maybe aren’t as appreciative of the knowledge keepers, and how much knowledge the older generations actually have. As our population ages, we’re losing a lot of knowledge that can be helpful within our communities.”
Pirkko got her start as a filmmaker late in life; while she ran a production company with her husband, Albert, she didn’t step behind the camera until she was in her 60s’, when she did a documentary on a Finnish commune in British Colombia.
“Father was always the filmmaker, and my mother in her 60s’ decided, ‘I’m going to be a filmmaker as well,’” said Ava. “Dad was kind of poo-pooing her, but he always did the wildlife filmmaking and wasn’t interested in making these kinds of films. She just took an old camera and she started filming people.”
Much of Pirkko’s film focused on Finnish Canadians; having immigrated from Finland in 1951, her connections to the Finnish diaspora were a source of inspiration and stories for her career.
Strings Across the Sky was a prime example of the connection. The 40-minute documentary follows Finnish-Canadian Andrea Hansen, a former child prodigy and touring sensation on the violin, as she worked to preserve the fiddle and community traditions in Canada’s North.
Pirkko followed Hansen through northern Ontario, Alberta, and the Territories as she re-invented herself as a teacher. The film tracks Hansen’s career, from first picking up a violin as a precocious toddler, to retiring from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and then into the North, where it features her work with primarily Indigenous youth as they work to learn a dying art.
One of the unforeseen results of Hansen’s work was her students’ academic improvement when they didn’t have a bow in their hands — the kids that learned the fiddle from Hansen saw their grades improve across the board in their core classes.
“Music is great for mental health and memory, and there’s a direct correlation between music, and math and science,” said Lindballe.
One last film
Accompanying the Karvonen’s was a film crew, who’re working with Ava to document Pirkko’s journey. After Albert passed away on Nov. 20, 2022, Ava decided it was time to stop putting off the film she had always talked with her mum about making — especially since she had shot a similar piece with her dad years before.
“I’m grateful that I have a flexible work schedule that I can be here for my mother at this phase in her life,” said Ava.
“I’m grateful for this time with her and for the great memories with mom. And this is a great memory, being back here? I don’t get this time back.”
The Karvonen women made one more great memory on this trip back to Athabasca. Hanging in the foyer of AU is a three-piece textile work of a grain elevator that Pirkko made years ago. When they walked into the building on Wednesday, the elder Karvonen immediately noticed something was off about the piece; the left and rightmost pieces had been flipped.
“I don’t know how she saw it, because she’s going blind,” said Ava with a laugh. “It was magical coming in with her and then seeing the piece. We got to film this beautiful scene of me fixing it for her. And now, it looks as it should.”
