Heidi Anniina Mattila
Odd Botanics
15.1.2026 –
Heidi Anniina Mattila’s exhibition in the telephone booth downstairs
The idea for the exhibition originates from a new interpretation of the mysterious Voynich Manuscript. The manuscript is a codex dating from the 15th century, featuring illustrations of peculiar plants and bathing female figures. The book also contains a strange script, the meaning of which scholars have not been able to agree upon. According to a new theory, the manuscript may be a guidebook to women’s health care, including recipes for the use of medicinal plants. But why would such a directory be encrypted, and why don’t the illustrations resemble any existing plants known in botany?
Have women’s health issues been considered — historically, and perhaps even still today — shameful or mysterious and therefore something to be kept secret, prompting the health guide to be written in code? Maybe the Voynich Manuscript was the cutting-edge science of its time or maybe it’s about witchcraft and esotericism — or something else entirely. As a visual artist, I am fascinated by the fact that the manuscript can be interpreted primarily through its images, since its secret language is not understood. I reflect on how we may read odd images and how much knowledge about the healing properties of plants has been lost in the mists of history.
Heidi Anniina Mattila (b. 1983) is a Helsinki-based visual artist who graduated from the Arts Academy of Turku University of Applied Sciences in 2008.
Contact details
heidi.mattila (a) gmail.com
