22/08/2023
🪵 all people on the planet Earth can be divided into two camps: those who love the aroma of tar and those who don't. Since I was a child, my favourite soap was tar soap. Later in life, I worked in the Finnish Forest Museum Lusto where I learnt about the traditional method of tar making here in the North. The folk technique of burning tar in Finland is using tar kilns (in Finnish tervahauta, literally meaning tar "grave"). It dates back to the early 17th century. The role of tar in people’s daily lives was significant, as tar was used not only as a wood preservative but also as a medicine against rashes and diseases.
However, until I started making my soap and looking for tar producers, I didn't know, there were people in Finland keeping the tradition alive.
🪵 Fortunately, I met at one cool event . she told me that these days there is a tar making in Sonka village nearby. I didn't wait to be invited twice and drove straight 35km to see the tar making in the process.
🪵 It was late evening when I arrived but I knew there would be volunteers keeping an eye on the tar throughout the whole night. I met two wonderful couples from the village in the moment of them passing the shift. It felt like, all of a sudden, I was inside of a tar black and white movie from the museum that I saw many years ago. 🪵 However, in , there was a new modern system with a pipe going down through the ground where the tar comes out through a convenient tap system with a sink to fill up the canisters. It's probably hard to imagine but I filmed also a short movie about it. most of the photos are snapshots from the video materials.
🪵 Now, since I found the tar, I wanna make my tar soap with it and of course, the movie about tar making! For now, you can see my tar soap photos from a couple of years ago made with Siberian birch tar and camomile tea 🫖
