From the editor: The Champions concert – the slightly better Christmas partyRead More »
From the editor: The Champions concert – the slightly better Christmas party Read More »
The Museum of Finnish Crafts records the practice of handicrafts in Kainuu. 38-year-old designer and decorator Kati Nevalainen hopes Finnish craftsmanship will be appreciated.
Nevalainen himself hopes that the importance of a culture of making things with your hands will be recognised now and in the future.
Nevalainen, who owns his own jewellery workshop and shop in Kajaani, emphasises that making and repairing old things is not always easy. A craftsman often acts as an interpreter for his customers.
– As a goldsmith, I make important jewellery and products for people. The products mean much more than the material,” says Nevalainen.
The material can be, for example, hundreds of years old grandparents’ rings and watches, which are retuned for today.
– Yes, history and the appreciation of traditions come to the fore.
Highlighting the status of companies that make a living through handicrafts is part of the focus of the Finnish Crafts Museum, and now the museum documents the everyday life of Kainuu’s handicraft professionals. The purpose is to bring craftsmanship to the fore and collect the silent knowledge of craftsmen for posterity.
Nevalainen has an idea about what change the handicraft profession could get even today: he hopes that the work of manual workers would be appreciated.
– We don’t live in a disposable society, and it is important that goods and products can be repaired. It is not necessarily the best option to buy inexpensively and save on material, because then the possibility of long-term repair is often lost.
The aim of the competition is to acquire one permanent work of art or a set of works of art for Kankaanauki. The artwork should be completed between 2024 and 2026.
Kaija Saariaho’s acclaimed Innocence tells the story of the causes and consequences of the school shooting, the trauma and the survival. Author Sofi Oksanen makes her debut as librettist.
It is obvious to anyone who has experienced the show why the role of Ice was singled out by the international press as one of *Innocence’s* most compelling when it premiered in France in summer 2021.
– I’ve been waiting for *Innocence* to come to Finland, and for it to settle down after the initial heat. I feel like this is going to be what I’ve been dreaming and thinking about all these years,” says Saariaho.
According to the jury, actor Anthony Rapp was unable to prove that Spacey had touched Rapp’s sexual or intimate body part.
Actor Kevin Spacey acquitted of sexual assault charges in New YorkRead More »
Actor Kevin Spacey acquitted of sexual assault charges in New York Read More »
More than 20 000 visitors have already visited the renovated museum. They also want to tell the stories of ordinary residents, as the area was not just a craftsmen’s quarter.
During the autumn holidays, Turku’s Luostarinmäki is a hive of activity. In addition to local residents, there are people from Helsinki, Tampere and Riihimäki, among others.
They are looking for suitable places where the new mobile phone app *Luostarinmäki 1827* could open up a view of the past.
– We’ve just been to the bakery. Just click here to see the houses. You can also take a walk down the alleys with your mobile phone,” advises Koota.
In Otso Lehtokar’s opinion, such a good job has been done on Luostarinmäki that the houses look exactly the same as they did in 1827.
– It’s worth going to the edge of that area. From there you can see windmills and fields, advises Lehtokari.
Next, the boys go to see 3D modeling from 1827. Both of their expressions are amazed.
– It was super great. The clouds were moving nicely, and the bells were ringing. When we grow up, we will become game makers, which means we could also do something similar here, enthuses Koota.
– The graphics were really great. I saw that a lot of effort had been put into that, reflects Lehtokari.
The finalists of the International Funny Animal Photo Competition include hilarious moments from around the world.
US artist Penelope Umbrico uses photographs of sales ads taken by others in her work, which surprisingly reveal a lot about the society around her.
Social media is constantly flooded with photos of everyday life and the celebrations. There, images are controlled, processed and selected moments of people’s lives.
But the internet is also full of those unadorned photos.
A blurry picture of a porcine cat for sale on the front page of an online flea market is not aesthetically pleasing. The picture is not meant to be beautiful. Its purpose is to sell the product it depicts.
According to Umbrico, for sellers, pictures are just a tool to present a valuable item. He thinks differently.
To them, they are trash pictures. But I care about the image. Because in pictures that people don’t care about, they actually reveal something about humanity, the artist says.
Umbrico collects photos of consumer-to-consumer sales announcements found online. The exhibition compiled from these pictures is on display at the Finnish Museum of Photographic Art K1 in Helsinki, Kämp Gallery. The artist himself has not taken any photos for the exhibition.
Sales announcements may unintentionally reveal a lot about one’s own life and home. At the same time, they tell about the surrounding world.
– How children and pets run around when the television is filmed for a sales advertisement and how the television reflects the surrounding apartment, it reveals a huge picture of society.
You can look at the works as a whole from a distance or look at the details up close. The collection of television screens may seem dark at first, but upon closer inspection, the pictures are even amusing. Kas, when you could only take a picture of the Slavic squat from the television placed on the floor.
Rastenbergen reflects on the impact of the internet on changes in privacy. Other people’s daily lives have become closer than ever with the help of screens on various devices. The boundary between private and public space has changed radically, when photos uploaded to the internet make private spaces public.
– In principle, the everyday life of even complete strangers is more accessible to us than ever before, Rastenbergen reflects.
According to artist Umbrico, one of the themes of the exhibition is people’s relationship with screens: How screens bring images before our eyes and how they reflect different lights.
– It starts with the idea that sunlight and screen light are different. And when we see the sun from the screen, we are actually seeing the light from the screen and not the light from the sun, says Umbrico.
The idea is put into practice as soon as you arrive at the exhibition, when the TV screen shows glimpses of photographs taken of the sun.
Umbrico is interested in the whole that similar photographs form.
– Not all pictures look good on their own. They are not interesting on their own, but when you put them together, you see a pattern. And society is built on formulas, Umbrico reflects.
A single image gives a different impression when combined with hundreds of images taken of the same object.
– Suddenly they become sculptural, almost like picture collages like a wall painting. And they turn into works of art in themselves, says Anna-Kaisa Rastenbergen.
According to him, the images also reflect our consumer culture. They tell about what is perceived as valuable enough to sell on.
