Culture

A documentary TV series is published about the everyday life of three adult tutors in eastern Finland, who are now surrounded by machines. The series, which will be broadcast on Yle Arena next week, will star Timo Juvonen as YouTube’s Metsa Man.

Small farmhouse at the end of a sandy road, surrounded by fields and woods.

Juvonen, 54, is a professional broadcaster. The videos on his “Metsa Man” channel are mostly made here, in the yard of a small forest farm in Tuusniemi. Juvonen tubetes from deep in the Savon korve, and it interests large audiences.

Metsa Man has almost 48 000 subscribers on YouTube. The channel was born when Juvonen wanted to make a model video of a mini digger for the video service and decided to make the video himself.

– Originally, I thought about conquering the world when I started tube about ten years ago. But nothing came of it since I don’t know English. That’s why I came back to the Savo dialect, says Juvonen at his homestead.

Juvonen’s videos tell about forest work, repairing machines, cats and life in the countryside. Videos have been remixed on Tiktok. Juvonen has made some Tiktok videos in addition to YouTube himself.

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Timo Juvonen, 54, made a career out of tubetting – soon to be seen on TV with his friends as the “Metsa Man”, who will soon be destroying machinesRead More »

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We visited three family-run businesses that have been following the customer flow in central Helsinki for decades.

*”The streets of our Finnish cities and capital are plagued by a blight where multinational rag shops, cardboard cupcake shops and hamburger joints have taken over the streets. We lack the fine diversity of European family businesses on our streets. “*

A reader comment raises the desire for a diversity of family businesses on the street scene. The city dweller needs content in their walks, where to go and why not aesthetic experiences.

Is it the case that the diversity of family businesses has disappeared from Helsinki?

One chain store after another in the inner city really hits the pedestrian’s path. There are still family businesses – you just have to look for them a little.

We talked to three entrepreneurs on a walk from the center to Töölö.

Wiipuri corset 1918

Very close to the heart of Helsinki, on the corner of Arkadiankatu, is the underwear store Wiipur’s Korsetti. In addition to the name, the year 1918 is marked on the large display windows.

On the shelves covering the back wall of the store, there are large quantities of black, white, skin-colored and colorful bras in neat stacks. Women’s nightwear and swimwear are also on display.

The company’s history takes it to Vyborg, maybe even St Petersburg

Wiipur’s Corsetti has been through wars, evacuations, the 1990s recession and most recently the corona virus.

The company ended up in the family, when Anu Nieme’s grandmother went to work at the Erikoiskorsetliike Rouvise located in Vyborg at the age of 16 in the early 1920s. He finally bought the shop in 1938.

– The business has now been in the family for over eighty years, Niemi calculates.

The shop was officially founded in 1918, but Niemi suspects that its history stretches back even further, as the shop was once advertised as a St. Petersburg specialty corset shop.

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Fashion designer Jenny Hytönen’s unisex collection won not only the main prize at the Hyères International Fashion Festival, but also the audience award.

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A shed is being built at the head of the harbour to house the boat, built in the 1950s, which will eventually be open to the public through large windows. The building will also house a small exhibition about the boat.

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A real boat curiosity glided into Jyväskylä harbour in a car – the boat designed by Alvar Aalto will soon be on display for all to seeRead More »

Cultural operators are preparing for energy-saving measures as electricity prices rise, but events and activities will continue as before, as cultural offerings are not likely to be restricted after the interest rate cuts.

Rising electricity prices have prompted cultural institutions to consider ways to save energy for the coming season.

No revolutionary measures are yet in place at the Science Centre Heureka in Vantaa.

At the Science Centre, Ainoa says that heat control is the most essential way to save electricity.

– So far, it is the most significant thing that has been done. But it has not yet come to the point that our operations are restricted because of the price of electricity, Ainoa says.

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The world-renowned artist’s exhibition is Kiasma’s major contribution for 2023, bringing together his six-decade career.

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It is still rare to find a woman in the conductor’s chair. Maria Itkonen has also experienced how women have been belittled in concert halls.

Conductor Maria Itkose has had a busy autumn with premieres. She made her debut as a conductor in Finland and Sweden.

Itkonen conducts the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Turku and Tampere Philharmonic Orchestras. He has also taken the conductor’s podium in the Norma opera of the Stockholm Folk Opera.

Itkonen is a violinist by background and has also worked as a concertmaster throughout Europe. What made him decide to study conducting?

He introduces the Folkoperan’s staging and points to the concert master’s chair.

– I have sat in that place so much, Itkonen laughs.

He describes the role of concertmaster as the highest person in the orchestra’s hierarchy. In that role, Itkonen has been able to influence the way the orchestra’s strings play, but he noticed that he would like to direct the playing of other instruments as well.

– Of course, the work of colleagues is respected and appreciated. But it’s a matter of taste.

The number of female conductors is increasing

Itkonen has lived in Sweden for over two years and has had a great time. According to him, one of the reasons for this is how well women are treated in the field of classical music in Sweden.

– Specifically for female conductors, Itkonen clarifies.

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From concertmaster to conductor, Maria Itkonen is making a spectacular career in SwedenRead More »