Art gems at EMMA’s summer exhibition
Jyrki Parantainen's 2001 work, The Mystery of Satisfaction no 7.
Emma’s own collection primarily comprises Finnish modern, post-war and contemporary art as well as a few international works, mainly by Nordic artists. The exhibition also features a history section, chronicling the collection’s development since the museum was founded.
The earliest work on view in the exhibition is Anna Sahlstein’s Mottagningstiden på sjukhuset ( ) from 1893. At the other end of the scale, Probe is a work created just this year by Mark Francis.
Ten sculptures from the Raimo Utriainen Collection on deposit with EMMA are on display. The sculptures, constructed from straight metal slats, are abstract works is created by combining straight and curved, transparent and solid surfaces.
The Osmo Valtonen Collection was donated to EMMA in 2008.Valtonen was a draughtsman and pioneer of kinetic light art. The exhibition features one sand-plotter and digger construction which ingenious structures create fascinating and constantly changing forms. Ten works from the collection of Kyösti Kakkonen, who owns one of Finland’s most important collections of glass and ceramics, represent the latest in international and Finnish contemporary art.
A Look at EMMA’s collections
until 6 September
EMMA-Espoo Museum
of Modern Art
Ahertajantie 5,
Tapiola, Espoo
Opens:
Tue-Sun 11:00-18:00
Admission: €10/€8
SUSAN FOURTANÉ – HT
Emma
A world of words in Töölö
Ian Bourgeot offers a warm cup of green tree and a wide selection of books in Arkadia International Bookstore.
WRITING developed between the 7th and the 4th millennium BC as the result of the desire of humans to create lasting records of the spoken word. Since then, ancient forms of books made of stone to wood, clay and wax tablets to papyrus and parchment began the book culture. It was not until the 15th century with the development of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg and his major work, the Gutenberg Bible, that the Age of the printed book started. In 1475,The Recuyell of the Historyes of Troye, was the first book printed in the English language.
Arkadia’s bookshelves hold a comprehensive collection of books in English and other languages. Although most of the books are from the 20th century, the titles on the catalogue also include books dated from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.
Weekly free cultural evenings make of Arkadia a different and special bookshop. The events may include scholarly and book presentations, poetry and literature, plays, political debates or concerts enjoying a cup of green tea and a relaxed feeling.
The intellect and culture highly present in Helsinki, can certainly find in Arkadia the perfect place to reinforce the importance of the written word in our society. Technology and the Internet have brought to our lives e-books and audio-books which can be easily stored in our virtual library and yet, the feeling of holding a book while resting in our comfortable chair is a heart warming experience.
Arkadia Oy
International Bookshop
Pohjoinen Herperiankatu 9, Helsinki
Mon-Fri 12-20, Sat 10-18
Events : www.arkadiabookshop.fi/blog
SUSAN FOURTANÉ
HELSINKI TIMES
Trust
What makes you decide to trust or not to trust someone to do a job?
It takes the same amount of energy to make the decision, the difference will be in the result of your decision making.
When you trust someone to do a certain job, you might base your decision on the knowledge you have of the person. Do you really know him?
When you trust someone you might take into account his CV. Does it really tell everything about that person?
Personal history and experience have a great influence on the individual’s development, therefore, it influences his job. Do you know his personal history?
Trusting that someone can do a good job triggers the individual’s motivation and self-esteem. Believing that he can perform accordingly to the needs of the company, believing he can deliver a good product or service allows him to work efficiently and happy.
A happy employee always delivers good results. 
Love is . . .
Love is blindness, mixed media by Hanna Korhonen.
The human heart is said to be the warm home of our feelings, emotions and love. A broken heart is pictured when feelings of pain result from love loss. But what is love? Do we become enamoured with the emotion, with the possibility of being loved and being with someone, rather than with the particular person involved?
Through a personal transition from anger to distance, Korhonen sought answers to these questions. The exhibition is illustrated by a series of mixed media photographs and writings. Handwritten poems, letters, and part of the artist’s personal diary are displayed on a light table and on the floor around it, inviting viewers to interact with them.
Korhonen’s objective is to provoke thoughts involving the personal experience of the viewer in relation to the social and biological pressure taught by society.
“The cultural idea of what love is, shows an urge to find content, sharing and the bases of a family. The way I look at love is very similar, but for me the relief is that we don’t have to find it at a certain age or even in the same sex,” she says.
Until 7 June at
00130 gallery
Korkeavuorenkatu 27,
Helsinki
Tue-Sun 12:00 to 17:00
www.00130gallery.net
Susan Fourtané – HT
English language theatre in June
Anna Maria Rawlings as Flora and Jack Leo as Edward in A Slight Ache.
Harold pinter was one of the most influential British playwrights of modern times. At the time of his death in 2008, he had achieved fame also as a screenwriter, actor, director, poet, author and political activist. He was the 2005 Nobel Laureate in Literature.
Involving strong conflicts among ambivalent characters, Pinter’s dramas are stylistically marked by theatrical pauses and silences, comedic timing, irony and menace. The ambiguity in his themes raises complex issues of individual identity oppressed by social forces, language and the vicissitudes of memory.
Why did you choose these Pinter’s plays?
Joan Nordlund: We chose Moonlight because it is one of Pinter’s later plays, because of the excellent dialogue and because of the mixture of emotions that it arouses. We also thought it would go well with A Slight Ache.
Bruce Marsland: A Slight Ache is an early work by Pinter and, as such, it is interesting to view it in relation to how we know Pinter’s work developed later, as in plays like Moonlight. The double-bill provides a rare opportunity to compare Pinter’s early and late work, and see how his approach to topics and theatricality may or may not have changed over the years.
How would you define the plays?
JN: Moonlight is a play about death and life and the space between, about relationships and families, memories and fantasies.
BM: A Slight Ache is largely about identity. It’s about how we define ourselves and what we use to define our view of others. It’s about an exploration of self through the exploration of the other – and it recognises all the potential trauma that lies on that path.
What can the audience expect from the performances?
JN: I think they will find the play moving, absurd and funny at times, disturbing and puzzling. Above all, I hope that they will be entertained.
BM: As often with The Finn-Brit Players, this is an opportunity to see English-language theatre performed with the original text. Pinter is not about comfort but I hope we can provide committed and challenging performances, and even topics to debate in the pub afterwards.
What are your directors’ statements?
JN: Directing Pinter is a joy and a challenge. Most of his plays, in my opinion, are best performed in small theatre spaces, in which the dividing line between the audience and the action is not necessarily clear cut.
BM: For me, theatre is about direct emotional and intellectual contact between the performers and the audience. Theatre should stir new ideas and challenge established concepts. I hope we can achieve that, at least in part, with this double-bill.
Q-Teatteri’s Puoli-Q stage
Tunturikatu 16, Helsinki
Showtimes
5 to 13 June at 19:00
Tickets €10 for both plays
Booking: www.finnbritplayers.com/tickets_pinter
www.finnbritplayers.com
Susan Fourtané – HT
Fabien Rapin -Image
Why boys don’t play with dolls?
From the series Playing Belfast by Harri Pälviranta
Kiasma’s exhibition (Un)naturally explores and illustrates the diversity of gender.
Since an early age, boys and girls learn to have gender roles. Games and toys are differentiated in the scene on the playground; girls playing with girls while boys are romping with boys.
In the adult world, suddenly rules change when preferring the same gender partner to share life is considered unnatural, therefore discriminated by society. Despite the fact that in some job markets the gender differences may appear as natural on a basis of evolution or genes, the curators agree that something is still wrong if genders are continuously juxtaposed even in the third millennium.
When is it natural to prefer the same gender and when is it not? Who sets the rules? What determines the scent of a man? Thoughts on these questions, on what is natural and what is unnatural come to the viewer through the works of nine artists including ink on paper, watercolor, pencil on paper, chromogenic colour print, digital colour print, silisec mounting and oil on canvas.
An interesting series of drawings (ink on paper) entitled Fall of Man, includes male personalities in history telling stories of men defending gay rights, men stubbed to death for being gay, or showing the countries where homosexuality is a reason for death penalty.
(Un)naturally
on display
until 30 August.
www.kiasma.fi
Susan Fourtané – HT
Harri Pälviranta – Image
Film festival in Sodankylä
Sodankylä Film Festival from 10-14 June
The 24th Midnight Sun Film Festival is the perfect excuse to visit the Finnish Lapland for 24 hours of non-stop masterpiece screenings and meeting top international filmmakers in the light of the midnight sun.
Aki Kaurismäki, Mika Kaurismäki and Timo Malmi form the programming committee who, together with artistic director Peter von Bagh, select the films; assuring quality to the film fest party.
Gems of contemporary international cinema and classic silent films share screening space in the non-competitive festival. International directors invited this year are John Boorman from the UK, Arturo Ripstein from Mexico, Robert Guédiguian from France and Samira Makhmalbaf from Iran. Special screenings include Rauni Mollberg’s classic adaptation of Timo K Mukka’s Earth is Our Sinful Song, which is not very often seen on the big screen.
The Finnish documentary film Maan muisti, will premiere at the festival. Finnish filmmakers attending the fest include Heikki Kujanpää, the director of Falling Angels, and Timo Torikka, from Mika Kaurismäki’s Three Wise Men’s trio.
Swiss film critic Hervé Dumont, known as an expect of Frank Borzage’s films, and Paolo Mereghetti, author of Il Mereghettii Dizionarion dei Film – a masterpiece of film encyclopaedias will share their knowledge in fantastic Master Class lectures.
www.msfilmfestival.fi
Susan Fourtané – HT
Santeri Happonen – Image
Playful Finnish design in New York
Kivikko seating, colour and creative functionality for everyday life.
In 1884 New York City established a bustling outdoor food market called the Gansevoort Market. In 1949, the Gansevoort Meat Center opened. Today, the Meatpacking District on the West Side of Manhattan is a destination for fashion and graphic designers, writers, architects, artists and photographers.
Playful New Finnish Design exhibits new creative solutions to everyday challenges. Emphasising quality of life, green solutions and life-long learning, the aim of the forward-thinking designers is to offer insightful solutions under the themes of environment & innovation and creativity & education, themes highlighted by a series of events, a seminar and workshops for both adults and children.
From 15 to 18 May, the exhibition presented design items and concepts from furniture to fashion and video as well as new concepts of architecture and urban planning in building innovative learning environments for children and a Residential Neighbourhood project which points at the role of art in creating socially vibrant urban environments. The event was organised by Design Forum Finland, the Consulate General of Finland in New York and the Finnish Cultural Institute in NY.
At the same time, the Finnish Embassy in Washington D.C. opened the exhibition My Helsinki; based on the stories, impressions and experiences of the Invitation to Helsinki programme participants. The project is a co-operation of the City of Helsinki and the Finnish Embassy in Washington D.C., accomplished by the students of the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. My Helsinki exhibition in Washington runs until 31 May.
Susan Fourtané – Helsinki Times
Designer Ilkka Suppanen for Marimekko
Sameli Rantanen – Image
www.designforum.fi
www.myhelsinki.fi
Finnish films in Cannes
New films, film producers, directors and distributors will have a serious red carpet gathering at the 62nd Cannes International Film Festival from 13 to 24 May.
The french riviera in the Mediterranean coastline of the south eastern corner of France has been spotted for its 300 days of sunshine by aristocrats, artists and writers since the end of the 18th century. The film industry added glamour and entertainment, making Cannes a popular venue for the Palme d’Or award.
In the line of Finnish celluloid creativity, Thomas by Miika Soini, Iris Olsson’s short documentary Between Dreams and Aki Kaurismäki’s classic documentary Balalaika Show featuring a concert with the Leningrad Cowboys and the Alexandrov ensemble are representing Finland; secretly wishing to bring the coveted Palme d’Or award back home.
Founded in 1959, The Marché du Film (Film Market) brings creativity and financial dynamics together facilitating negotiations and deals in the film industry. Finnish films having market screenings are Dome Karukoski’s Forbidden Fruit, One Foot Under by Johanna Vuoksenmaa, Sauna by AJ Annila and Tears of April by Aku Louhimies.
A new issue of the Truth Today mock newspaper, featuring news on the latest sci-fi film Iron Sky by Timo Vuorensola, will be distributed in Screen Daily and in the city of Cannes.
Susan Fourtané – HT
www.festival-cannes.com
Young Designer of the Year Prize
Terhi Tuominen (left) and Mikko Laakkonen
The Young Designer of the Year prize was established in 2000 by Design Forum Finland in honour of the 125th anniversary of the Finnish Society of Crafts and Design. The prize encourages young designers to develop original, high-standard skills and ability in the fields of crafts, applied art, industrial design, graphic design or interior architecture.
Made in Finland
The aura of Finnish design got its start in the 1950s, sparked by the National Romantic movement at the turn of the century, which made the industrial arts part of the creative culture, along with architecture and the fine arts. The late 19th century marked the beginning of systematic action to promote industrial arts and craft and as a result the Finnish Society of Crafts and Design was founded in 1875 to maintain its Sunday School to encourage manual skills within the industry. Gradually the school grew to become the leading institution of teaching in its field and educating a number of talented designers, particularly in post-war Finland. Internationally recognised names emerged, giving birth to the stylish, minimalist Finnish design.
Designers 2009
Terhi Tuominen works in spatial and furniture design. Her simple but functional shapes achieve discreet, bold forms in predominately wood and metal.
Mikko Laakkonen’s pro- jects are mainly in the field of furniture and product design.
Focusing on solutions, his stylish design objects are for everyday life.
Both designers are fresh and sensitive in their style, giving their products a playful, light spark while having a clear-cut functionality in a sensible manner. They have boldly set out to market their skills to businesses in Finland and the international market.
Design students from Kuopio’s Academy of Design and Hämeenlinna’s Wetterhoff also present their works made of glass, ceramic and textile, including clothing and footwear design in their exhibitions Genesis and Watterhoff Blanco.
The three exhibitions until 31 May 2009 on Erottajankatu 7, Helsinki.
www.designforum.fi
Susan Fourtané – Helsinki Times
Lehtikuva – Martti Kainulainen
