Tag: art
Women and the city
17 April 2010 | This 'n' that
Jolly good! Young women celebrating the First of May in Helsinki in 1912. Photo: Ivan Timiryasev
How was city life for the single woman a hundred years ago in Helsinki?
She could ride a bike, for example, provided it was equipped with an ‘alarm system’ and the speed was not high. Socially she could have fun as long as she obeyed the rules. No admittance to restaurants without male company, for example.
Some young women in those days had to make a living by teaching or by working in an office – before they got married, of course.
A new exhibition (25 March–29 August) at Helsinki’s Ateneum art museum, entitled Kaupungin naiset (‘Women of the city’), focuses on the cultural life of young women in Helsinki in the 1910s through the eyes of the writer and critic L. Onerva (aka Hilja Onerva Lehtinen, 1882–1972). More…
Green thoughts
Extracts from the novel Kuperat ja koverat (‘Convex and concave’, Otava, 2010)
Hannu Väisänen: ‘Green and yellow in March’ (work in progress, oil on canvas, 130x193cm, 2010)
I decided to go to the Museum of Fine Arts.
After paying for my entrance ticket, I climbed the wide staircase to the first floor. There all I saw were dull paintings, the same heroic seed-sowers and floor-sanders as everywhere else. Why were so many art museums nothing more than collections of frames? Always national heroes making their horses dance, mud-coloured grumblers and overblown historical scenes. There was not a single museum in which a grandfather would not be sitting on a wobbly stool peering over his broken spectacles, interrogating a young man about to set off on his travels, cheeks burning with enthusiasm, behind them the entire village, complete with ear trumpets and balls of wool. The painting’s eternal title would be ‘Interrogation’ and it would be covered with shiny varnish, so that in the end all you would be able to see would be your own face.
I climbed up to the next floor. All I really felt was a pressing need to run away. No Flemish conversation piece acquired in the Habsburg era was able to erase a growing anxiety related to love. More…
Konstnärsbröderna von Wrights dagböcker 1–7 [The diaries of the von Wright brothers, Vols. 1–7]
1 April 2010 | Mini reviews, Reviews
Konstnärsbröderna von Wrights dagböcker 1–7
[The diaries of the von Wright brothers, Vols. 1–7]
Magnus von Wright: Dagbok [Diary] 1824–1834. 407 p., ill. ISBN 951-583-026-5
Magnus von Wright: Dagbok [Diary] 1835–1840. 470 p., ill. ISBN 951-583-040-0
Magnus von Wright: Dagbok [Diary] 1841–1849. 431 p., ill. ISBN 951-583-047-8
Magnus von Wright: Dagbok [Diary] 1850–1862. 496 p., ill. ISBN 951-583-060-5
Magnus von Wright: Dagbok [Diary] 1863–1868. 493 p., ill. ISBN 951-583-085-0
€ 46 each, hardback
Wilhelm & Ferdinand von Wright: Dagböcker [Diaries] 615 p., ill. ISBN 978-951-583-137-8.
€ 46, hardback
Index: 398 p., ill. ISBN 978-951-583-138-5. € 20, hardback
Helsinki: Svenska Litteratursällskapet i Finland, 1996–2010
Toimittaneet [Ed. by]: Anto Leikola, Juhani Lokki, Torsten Stjernberg, Johan Ulfvens
The three von Wright brothers, who came from a family with nine children in rural north Savo (in eastern Finland), shared a talent for meticulous observation combined with masterful technique and a romantic style. Each of these artists, who were active during the Biedermeier era, was a trailblazer in his own field: Magnus (1805–1868) as a proponent of Finnish national art, Wilhelm (1810–1887) as a wildlife illustrator, and Ferdinand (1822–1906) as a painter of landscapes and birds. Their contribution to Nordic ornithology is considerable. The index volume to the von Wright brothers’ diaries (which were written in Swedish) includes lists of their artworks and details of works held by collections abroad. This series is of significant cultural importance, and it is remarkable for its scientific accuracy. Five volumes consist of Magnus von Wright’s diary entries, which he wrote daily from 1820 up until his death. The sixth volume contains diary entries by the two younger brothers, which provide insights into the everyday life and society of that era, as well as the artists’ working practices and their relationship with nature.
Jaakko Heinimäki & Juha Metso: Miina – Äkkijyrkkä
6 November 2009 | Mini reviews, Reviews
Miina – Äkkijyrkkä
Text: Jaakko Heinimäki
Photos: Juha Metso
Helsinki: Johnny Kniga Kustannus, 2009. 190 p., ill.
ISBN 978.951-0-35552-7
€41, hardback
Miina Äkkijyrkkä (born 1949; real name Riitta Loiva) is a Finnish artist known for her cattle-themed paintings and sculptures. Äkkijyrkkä is also widely known as a passionate supporter and breeder of Eastern Finncattle, an endangered breed native to Finland. Most of the accompanying texts in this book which describe her ideas and her art come from a series of discussions with author and Lutheran minister, writer Jaakko Heinimäki, recorded in the spring of 2009. Miina Äkkijyrkkä speaks openly about her art and the diverse phases of her life, her values and faith, and her clashes with the authorities and the rest of society. This book is magnificently illustrated with Juha Metso’s photographs, which were taken over a period of 15 years in Finland and abroad. More information about the artist and her works is available here.
Marita Liulia: Choosing My Religion – Uskontoja jäljittämässä
30 July 2009 | Mini reviews, Reviews
Choosing my Religion – Uskontoja jäljittämässä
Käännökset englanniksi [English translations]: Michael Garner
Helsinki: Maahenki, 2009. 223 p., ill.
ISBN 978-952-5652-61-1
€ 38, hardback
Marita Liulia is a visual artist who specialises in interactive media art. Her works have been shown in more than 40 countries. Choosing my Religion discusses the nine major religions of the world. It contains 150 pictures and photographs, as well as texts by the artist and an article by associate professor of comparative religion Terhi Utriainen. The book, like the exhibition at Helsinki’s Kiasma museum which it accompanies, focuses on the religions and on animism. Liulia has travelled in 50 countries, studying religions and discussing them with both scholars and laymen. Her project concentrates on the possibilities of equal choice between religions and emphasises their positive aspects. The subject of the photographs in the book is the artist herself, who abandoned her Christian faith as a teenager. As a child she suffered from rheumatoid arthritis, and was unable to walk until she was 15. Liulia has portrayed herself in the traditional dress and emblems of the different faiths. In her view one of the features uniting all religions is the fact that in them women play the role of servants who pass on the faith to succeeding generations. Choosing my Religion comprises the book, the (touring) exhibition and a website.
Self-made man
1 April 2009 | Extracts, Non-fiction
On camelback: in the exotic part of Veijo Rönkkönen’s concrete cosmos there are animals and palm trees, side by side with the living plants of the northerly latitudes. - Photo, left: Veijo Rönkkönen; right: Veli Granö.
Extracts and photographs from Veijo Rönkkösen todellinen elämä / The real life of Veijo Rönkkönen (Maahenki, 2007. Translation: Kirsti Nurmela-Knox)