Metropolitan Times 2/19

A MAGAZI NE FOR VISITORS

2/2019

IN THIS ISSUE Highlights of Finnish film history:

Summer night’s passion, a vampire witch on the snowfields Page 10

The unbearable lightness of skiing Page 14

Birger Carlstedt – A Finnish early modernist at Amos Rex Page 22

A column by Heikki Kännö

please leave this magazine for the next guest – thank you!

The magic circles of hotels Page 28

8.11.

13.11. & 14.11.

22.11.

Joshua Weilerstein Ossi Tanner Jonas Silinskas

Matthew Halls Steven Osborne

Olari Elts Andrea Mastroni

27.11.

6.12.

11.12. & 12.12.

Gustavo Gimeno Christoffer Sundqvist Otto Virtanen

Independence Day Gala Concert

Hannu Lintu Gerald Finley

Chamber Music on Sundays 20.10./24.11./ 8.12./19.1./16.2./ 15.3.

8.1. & 9.1.

17.1.

22.1. & 23.1.

31.1.

Hannu Lintu Olli Mustonen

La Damnation de Faust

Sakari Oramo Anu Komsi

Alain Altinoglu Augustin Hadelich

14.2. & 15.2.

28.2.

4.3. & 5.3.

13.3. & 14.3.

Nicholas Collon Pekka Kuusisto

Johannes Gustafsson Javier Perianes

Han-Na Chang Yuki Koyama

Jukka-Pekka Saraste Elena Pankratova Mikhail Petrenko

18.3.

27.3.

1.4. & 2.4.

Rafael Payare Alisa Weilerstein

Andrew Manze Tami Pohjola

Klaus Mäkelä Vikingur Olafsson

Tickets 9-46 € from Ticketmaster sales points and ticketmaster.fi.

Helsinki Music Centre box office Mon-Fri 9-18, Sat 10-17.

yle.fi/rso

THE POWER OF 102 MUSICIANS

TRY IT OUT. Concert info helsinkiphilharmonicorchestra.fi Tickets ticketmaster.fi

Korkeasaari Zoo – near the city but far from the rush

Korkeasaari Zoo is uniquely located on an island in the Baltic Sea. It’s just outside the city, you can literally see the Helsinki Cathedral from the zoo. It takes only 20 minutes to get here by local bus (no 16) from the Railway Station. Meet animals from the Himalayas, Siberia, Mongolia, Finland and the Asian rainforest – more than 150 species in total – while enjoying the silence and peace of the Finnish nature surrounding you.

Animals who are not afraid of cold It is not a coincidence that the snow leopard’s only bare spot is the tip of its nose or that the snowy owl is white and fluffy. Animals have their ways to adapt to cold climates. At Korkeasaari Zoo we want our large animals to enjoy outdoor life throughout the year. Therefore, instead of seeing a giraffe or a hippo, you will see a wolverine, a forest reindeer, an Amur tiger and a Bactrian camel – all species adapted to extreme winter. On a windy day, follow suit from the animals and dress warmly. If it gets too chilly, take refuge in the warm tropical houses.

To visit Korkeasaari Zoo is to act for nature Our mission is to conserve biodiversity.

We want our visitors to value the importance of biodiversity and aim to motivate behavior change for conservation. In cooperation with other modern zoos, we breed endangered species to maintain a healthy and viable zoo population. Zoo populations have already saved various species from extinction. In order to support our mission in protecting wild animals and their natural habitats, we donate annually to various field conservation projects.

Bring your coins and donate to the project of your choice. By visiting Korkeasaari Zoo, you support our work as defenders of biodiversity and endangered species.

Korkeasaari Zoo is open every day of the year, even on Christmas. There is a restaurant on the island, or you can bring your own food. You’ll find a free map at the entrance to guide you through your visit. Check the opening hours on www.korkeasaari.fi

From zoos to the wild Do you know what European bison, bearded vulture, European forest reindeer and Przewalski´s wild horse have in common? All these species have been lost from the wild locally or globally, and brought back from extinction with the help of zoos, Korkeasaari Zoo among them.

CONTENTS Welcome to the Metropolitan area 8 Summer night’s passion, a vampire witch on the snowfields – Highlights of Finnish film history 10 The unbearable lightness of skiing 14 Map of metropolitan area 16 Hotels & hostels providing Metropolitan Times 18 Birger Carlstedt – A Finnish early modernist at Amos Rex 22 Minna Canth – The champion of girls’ rights and equality 26 The magic circles of hotels – A column by Heikki Kännö 28

Metropolitan Times – A Magazine for Visitors Issue 2/2019 "Autumn-Winter-Spring" www.metropolitantimes.fi ISSN 2489-2688 (print) ISSN 2669-8277 (online) Published by Mobile-Kustannus Oy Brahenkatu 14 D 94 FI-20100 Turku, Finland

Editor Anna Eloaho Publisher Teemu Jaakonkoski Sales Manager Raimo Kurki raimo.kurki@mobilekustannus.fi Tel. +358 45 656 7216

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14

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Graphic Design & Layout Petteri Mero Mainostoimisto Knok Oy Printed by Newprint Oy

Cover Oodi, Helsinki Central Library. Photo: Tuomas Uusheimo / Helsinki Marketing Nuuksio, Espoo. Photo: Natura Viva / Helsinki Marketing Helsinki Cathedral. Photo: Paul Williams Lauttasaari, Helsinki. Photo: Timo Niukkanen Heikki Kännö. Photo: Helena Kulmala

Metropolitan Times map application for mobile telephones and tablets: m.metropolitantimes.fi.

Metropolitan Times is available in selected hotel and hostel rooms and lobbies in Espoo-Helsinki-Vantaa metropolitan area (see pages 16–17 and 18).

Next Metropolitan Times issue is out in April 2020.

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The story of a storytelling species

TICKETS FROM 19 € kansallisteatteri.fi lippu.fi IN PARTNERSHIP The Finnish National Theatre W A U H A U S and Zodiak – Centre for New Dance

BY MINNA LEINO, BASED ON YUVAL NOAH HARARI’S ORIGINAL WORK

HAKANIEMI MARKETHALL Over 40 specialty stores for gift items, food and restaurants.

WELCOME TO EXPERIENCE A UNIQUE SERVICE IN THE MAGNIFICENT GLASS HALL.

MON-FRI 8 am - 8 pm SAT 8 am - 6 pm www.hakaniemenkauppahalli.fi

photo: Sami Kurikka / Skyfoto

ESPOO

HELSINKI

VANTAA

Welcome to the Metropolitan area

photo: Olli Urpela

Urban culture and experiences in nature Located just a metro ride away, Espoo is a vital city, offering each and every one interesting things to see and experience.

Espoo has a lot to offer for those craving culture: visit a fascinating museum in Exhibition Centre WeeGee or participate in one of our city’s many events. In 2018 Espoo was named Travel Region of the Year in Finland.

Large natural areas are characteristic of Espoo: seashores, the archipelago, the wilderness in nature reserves and the waterways of the lake highlands.

The cultural landscapes, constructed environments and natural areas of Espoo are like Finland in miniature.

Espoo has twice been ranked as the most sustainable city in Europe. We have also been invited to act as one of the pioneering cities implementing the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in cooperation with Aalto University and companies. In June 2018, we won the Intelligent Community of the Year award. These achievements show that our hard work to build a sustainable future is bearing fruit. We want to ensure that our city will grow in a manner that will provide future generations with equal or better living conditions than those enjoyed by us.

Welcome to Espoo!

photo: Jetro Stavén

Dear reader

Life is sweet in Vantaa – literally!

You've made an excellent decision in coming to Helsinki! Well, I'm the city's mayor, so I would say that, wouldn't I? But indeed, I can back up my statements of Helsinki's excellence with statistics and ratings: During the last couple of years, Helsinki has reached a new level regarding the number of visitors – both leisure and business. And should you wish to stay longer, you might be pleased to hear that we rank #1 in rankings that measure quality of life, satisfaction with the place people live in, as well as honesty – just to name a few.

Helsinki is a compact, fun city, where modern urban life meets a beautiful, diverse environment. Helsinki lives and breathes throughout every season of the year. But don't take just my word for it. We believe that locals are the best guides to a city. While we sadly can't assign a personal local for each visitor, as the tech-savvy people we are, we have collected all the best local guides into one service: myhelsinki.fi.

It's available in English, Finnish, Swedish, Russian, Japanese and German. Now go and follow in the footsteps of the locals!

The strategy of our city begins with the words "Helsinki is for a good life". We don't mean that just for residents, we mean it also for all visitors and other new friends.

I hope to see you back soon.

Jan Vapaavuori

Jukka Mäkelä

photo: Sakari Manninen

Mayor of Helsinki

Mayor of Espoo

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Travels with the experiences they entail remain in one’s memory, and many remember, for example, class visits to Fazer candy factory. Fazer has arranged visits for more than 60 years. Nowadays, a new visitor experience center serves visitors in Vantaa’s Fazer factory milieu.

In addition to sampling treats, you should look upward where the old water tower radiates moving light art.

Vantaa is a growing city where there is never a shortage of new things to experience. The first outlet village in the metropolis, Helsinki Outlet, will open in November in Vantaa’s Porttipuisto.

In addition, Finnish and global brands are found in Jumbo, which the residents of the metropolis recently chose as the best shopping mall in the area. Right next to Jumbo lies Finland’s biggest hotel, Flamingo, with its spa services.

Even in the winter, Vantaa is full of life. You can enjoy the heat of the smoke sauna in Kuusijärvi, visit Heureka Science Center, or admire old airplanes at the Finnish Aviation Museum: if you do not have the time to experience all during one visit, welcome again!

Ritva Viljanen Vantaa City Mayor

Georgian food Cuisine of the year in the 2019 Hospitality Trends Report

Mon closed RioniEspoo

Georgian dish khachapuri - best rated dish on TasteAtlas’s top 100 list

Opening times: Tue–Thu 16–21 Fri 16–22

Sat 13–22

#1 Restaurant in Espoo according to Tripadvisor users

Sun 13–20

Ukkohauentie 9, Espoo (1 km from Niittykumpu metrostation) 050 513 1119 www.rioni.fi

photo: Elonet

Summer night’s passion,

a vampire witch

on the snowfields The Finnish cinema lives on the conflicts between exceptional individuals and the system

T

Written by Kari Salminen Translated by Tiina Erkintalo

he history of Finnish cinema is written much like the history of cinema everywhere else. At the beginning, there were the pioneers, then began the classical studio era, followed by the new wave and finally by the triumphal march of commercial entertainment. "The Finnish Hollywood" flourished in the 1930s and 40s, led by two big studios, Suomi-Filmi (1919–1980) and Suomen Filmiteollisuus (1933–1965). The industrial mode of production and the star system worked their magic. The Finns went to the movies more than ever since.

Today the Finnish cinema of the studio era is remembered, along with its stars, for its film series and the production cycles that helped maximize the profits. Folksy musical comedies (the so called rillumarei films), historical romances, military farces, rural dramas (Niskavuori series), saga of an urban family (The Suominens series), and crime stories (Inspector Palmu series) still live in the nation’s collective consciousness.

The studios began to lose their ground at the turn of the 50s and 60s. Jörn Donner – Finnish film director and Ingmar Bergman’s producer for the Best Foreign Film Oscar winning Fanny & Alexander – wrote his manifesto The Finnish Film in Year Zero in 1961, calling for reform. The new wave did hit the Finnish cinema, but it was shortly followed by a turn towards new realism and naturalism led by patriarchal directors such as Rauni Mollberg and Mikko Niskanen.

Mirjami Kuosmanen as Pirita in White Reindeer (1952), directed by Erik Blomberg.

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All photos: Elonet

Tuulikki Paananen and Ilmari Mänty in Nyrki Tapiovaara's Stolen Death (1938).

Tauno Palo and Ansa Ikonen in Toivo Särkkä's The Vagabond’s Valse (1941).

The great commercial success of Finnish cinema in the 2000s began with the youth film Levottomat (2000). Film directors became trained hired hands and power shifted to the film producers, among whom the most notable is Markus Selin. He started as a partner to film director Renny Harlin, who in turn went as far as Hollywood and now succeeds in China. This new generation distanced themselves from the politicized new wave as well as the large productions with national emphasis.

Great artists work within or outside the system. One of the outsiders was leftist radical Nyrki Tapiovaara, who died in the Second World War. His films from the pioneering times had a unique aesthetic style and were of an international class. The Russian-born Theodor Tugai, later Teuvo Tulio, directed 16 strangely fervent noir melodramas in four decades (1936–1972). Another Russian-born and equally style-sensitive was Valentin Vaala, who made as many as 39 films for Suomi-Filmi Studios between 1935-63. His 1948 rendering of Nobel-laureate F.E. Sillanpää’s novel Ihmiset suviyössä (People in the summer night, 1934) is one of the masterpieces of Finnish cinema.

Erik Blomberg was yet another original filmmaker. His Valkoinen peura (White Reindeer, 1952) is based on a tale from Sámi folklore and enjoyed also international success.

Women in Finnish cinema should not be overlooked. Tulio’s films featured and some of them were also written by Regina Linnanheimo, the beloved film star with flaming eyes. The film White Reindeer in turn was very much a movie by the director’s wife Mirjami Kuosmanen, as she originated the idea, wrote the script and played the main role.

One major work rises above the rest in the history of Finnish cinema, the monumental war movie Tuntematon sotilas (The Unknown Soldier, 1955). It is based on a novel by Väinö Linna of the same name, and has been filmed twice since, in 1985 and 2018.

In contemporary Finnish cinema, Aki Kaurismäki is an exception, along with his brother Mika. Especially Aki is an all-time favourite of international film critics and film festival networks. He has refined his enthusiasm for films and the influences taken from film history (Chaplin, Renoir, Bresson, Fassbinder and the French new wave) into a unique cinematic postmodernism topped with national nostalgia and kitschy mise-en-scène.

Another exceptional case was the one-man film factory Pertti ‘Spede’ Pasanen. His films went down extremely well, even though they were made with cheap TV style. Especially the 20-piece Uuno Turhapuro series (1973–2004) is a monument of national pop movie, whose male and marital satire can only be understood by a Finn, if any. An earlier, similar phenomenon was the 50s Pekka & Pätkä series of films based on popular comic books. The Finns love these picaresque losers, who end up winning even when they lose. s

Veikko Sinisalo (left) and Åke Lindman as corporals Lahtinen and Lehto in Edvin Laine's The Unknown Soldier (1955).

ONE MAJOR WORK RISES ABOVE THE REST, THE MONUMENTAL WAR MOVIE THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER.

"The most Finnish" classics

Nyrki Tapiovaara: Stolen Death (Varastettu kuolema, 1938) Influenced by French impressionism and Russian school of montage, the film is an experimental thriller about activists in the period of Russian oppression in Finland at the turn of the 20th century.

Toivo Särkkä: The Vagabond’s Valse (Kulkurin valssi, 1941) The second most watched Finnish film in history is the climax of historical-romantic studio style.

Valentin Vaala: Ihmiset suviyössä (People in the Summer Night, 1948) Sillanpää-remake of the raging Finnish blood during a Midsummer’s Eve with homosexual references.

Erik Blomberg & Mirjami Kuosmanen: White Reindeer (Valkoinen peura, 1952) The Nordic folk horror movie is well known worldwide.

Edvin Laine: The Unknown Soldier (Tuntematon sotilas, 1955) A nationally unifying war epic.

Mikko Niskanen: Eight Deadly Shots (Kahdeksan surmanluotia, 1972) A reconstructuring epic of police murders filled with fumes of moonshine and male self-pity.

Rauni Mollberg: The Earth is a Sinful Song (Maa on syntinen laulu, 1973) The grotesque depiction of rural life still makes one shiver with its power of folk ballad combined with crude naturalism.

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Italian restaurant in two floors.

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@vaelsahelsinki

Ristorante Vaelsa Vaelsa Taverna

OPENING HOURS: WWW.VAELSA.FI I POHJOISESPLANADI 9, 00170 HELSINKI

Lapland in the heart of Helsinki Genuine Northern delicacies served on wooden boat

Welcome – Buresboahtin!

Lappish Restaurant Saaga Bulevardi 36 • Tel. +358 9 7425 5544 Mon–Sat 18–23 www.ravintolasaaga.fi

photo: Terje Pedersen / Lehtikuva

Finland's Iivo Niskanen (8) won his first individual Winter Olympic gold medal in men's 50 km cross country skiing in PyeongChang 2018. Other medals went to Russia, as Alexander Bolshunov (7) took silver and Andrey Larkov (11) bronze – both competing as members of OAR Team.

Hans Christer Holund (3) of Norway finished 6th.

The unbearable lightness of skiing

"S

Written by Matti Mäkelä Translated by Tiina Erkintalo

uch pleasure it is for a skier to ski, when snow beneath glistens and the sky above curves bright…", depicts Eino Leino, the Finnish national poet, the joys of skiing. After this, Leino makes a U-turn and declares that skiing is even more fun when "the wind howls, the trail is blocked and a blizzard storms in the sky…" More fun? Leino seems to describe the inhumane circumstances that led to the tragic death of Captain Scott’s expedition in the Antarctic, and he seems to be shaking with laughter.

No wonder Leino is Finland’s national poet. To praise self-torture in such wretched conditions is only natural in a country that has fully internalized John F. Kennedy’s famous motto: we choose to do things not because it is easy, but because it is hard.

This is why Lauri ‘Tahko’ Pihkala, the Grand Old Man of Finnish sports, considered cross-country skiing to be ultimately superior to alpine skiing. In his view, a sport where "the lift takes you up and the gravity brings you down" was not really a sport at all.

As a result of this attitude, it is the men’s 50 km ski-race that has traditionally been considered the most valued one among skiing championships. For example, the most successful Finnish skier in recent years, Iivo Niskanen, became a true superstar only after winning Olympic gold medal on this particular competition in 2018 – although he had previously already won World Championship in 15 km race as well as the Olympic gold in team sprint race.

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‘A SPORT WHERE

THE LIFT TAKES YOU UP AND THE GRAVITY

BRINGS YOU DOWN IS NOT REALLY

A SPORT AT ALL.’

Then, of course, there are those who think that true skiing only not held again until in 2016. Since then, it has been organized every begins when considerably many more kilometers are involved. For year as its popularity grows. But even Andreas Nygaard, who won those the Nordenskiöldsloppet in mid-April in Sweden offers a real the competition in 2017, doubted its meaningfulness. "It is completely challenge with its extreme 220 kilometers, just over five marathons. absurd to ski for so long. This is the craziest race I’ve ever skied", he The name of the event refers to the famous Finnish arctic explorer said after reaching the finish line in 11.48.07. The contestant, who Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld, who organized the first race in 1884. enjoyed the longest time on the ski track, pushed himself to the According to tradition, the pace of the first competition was kept up finish line after more than 28 hours of skiing. by serving the participants coffee and cognac, which was not that The most popular mass skiing events in the Nordic countries, exceptional in endurance sports at that time. however, are much more moderate in length.

IN TIGHT SITUATIONS For example, the winners of the first Olympic Sweden’s Vasaloppet is the world’s largest single marathons are known to have cheered themselves cross-country skiing race and clearly the most THE PATROLS up with red wine, cognac and even strychnine. popular.

Organized since 1922, the aim of the WERE GIVEN A unique chapter in the unholy union of event is to ski 90 kilometers from Sälen to Mora.

A STIMULANT DRUG skiing and stimulants, along with various doping According to the story behind the event, the future DEVELOPED BY scandals, is the winter guerilla activity of the king of Sweden Gustav Vasa tried to escape from THE GERMANS Finnish remote patrol troops behind the Soviet Sweden to Lübeck, Germany, in the early 1520s. lines during the second World War. The patrols However, the peasants who opposed the current sent to the enemy’s back could, in a matter of few days, ski more reign of King Christian II of Denmark, sent their three best skiers than 150 kilometers while carrying weapons, explosives and other after the young nobleman to persuade him to return and lead an equipment. Although the men in these special forces were in a really uprising against the king. Gustav agreed, plunged the usurper from tough condition, fatigue was imminent because of the extreme the throne and became king himself. Like so many nationally inspiring physical and mental stress. To support the patrols in tight situations stories, this too must be a complete fiction, except for the end result. they were given a stimulant drug developed by the Germans, pervitin, The Finnish counterpart to Vasaloppet, Finlandia Ski Marathon, has which, in practice, was a metamfetamine-based drug. a much shorter history. It was first organized in 1974 and covered 75 Jouko Korhonen, who served as lieutenant during the war, said kilometers. In 1982, the number of skiers exceeded the magic amount in an interview in tabloid Ilta-Sanomat that he had given one of his of 10,000 participants (for the sake of the anecdote, among them was exhausted men three tablets to prevent him lagging behind from the Prince Tomohito of Japan). In 1984 Finlandia Ski Marathon reached rest of the patrol, while they were fleeing from the enemy. As soon a record of 13,000 participants, which made it in the Guinness Book as the weary man got the stimulants, he skied, in a deep unbroken of Records as the world’s largest mass ski event. snow, to the top of the bunch: "I told him to stay behind, but he So, what does the future look like for mass skiing events or would not obey me." ultra-long skiing distances? Indeed, the competition becomes more At times the use of the substance got out of control. Another patrol’s challenging each year: people are attracted to new sports, the climate scouting trip had to be cancelled, because the men had apparently got change is reducing skiing opportunities especially in the southern a bit too excited about the recreational use of pervitin. They began Finland, and so many other things compete for people’s free time. to hallucinate (stone houses in the middle of the wilderness, among On the other hand, perseverance, overcoming oneself and facing other things) and the team deputy commander started taking orders almost impossible challenges are eternal megatrends. This is why from a non-existent colonel. there will always be people who hear the calling of Eino Leino’s Let us return to Nordenskiöldsloppet. Despite the cognac and deep unbroken snow and blowing of the wind in a glooming and coffee, the race was obviously too hard an ordeal after all, as it was stormy night forest. s

photo: SA-Kuva

A ski patrol in Säkkijärvi, South Karelia during the Winter War, January 1940.

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A MAP IN YOUR POCKET

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Metropolitan Times Map App is available for your use in

www.metropolitantimes.fi

PLEASE LEAVE THIS MAGAZINE FOR THE NEXT GUEST – THANK YOU! 19

YOU ARE HERE!

Hotels providing Metropolitan Times are marked on the map with numbered blue dots.

The number of your hotel can be found from the list on page 18.

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© Helsingin kaupunkimittausosasto 2019

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THE MAP OF THE METROPOLITAN AREA

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Helsinki

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Helsinki was founded in 1550 by King Gustavus Vasa of Sweden. It became the capital city of Finland (then the Grand Duchy of Finland) in 1812.

Inhabitants: ca. 600,000. More information: www.hel.fi.

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Espoo

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Espoo is the second largest city in Finland.

It gained city rights in 1972, but the first written mention of Espoo is from 1458. Geographically scattered Espoo is divided into seven major areas and instead of one city center Espoo has five rather densly populated city centers. Inhabitants: ca. 275,000. More information: www.visitespoo.fi.

Vantaa Vantaa is the fourth largest city in Finland. It gained city rights in 1974, but the first written mention of Vantaa is from 1352. The Helsinki Airport is situated in Vantaa. Inhabitants: ca. 220,000. More information: www.visitvantaa.fi.

Kauniainen Kauniainen is a small town enclosed by the city of Espoo. It is the smallest commune of Finland with its 6 square kilometres. Inhabitants: ca.

9,400. More information: www.kauniainen.fi.

Capital region The total number of inhabitants in the Capital region (Helsinki, Espoo,Vantaa and Kauniainen) is 1.1 million.

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Greater Helsinki Capital region and the municipalities Hyvinkää, Järvenpää, Kerava, Kirkko­nummi, Nurmijärvi, Sipoo, Tuusula, Mäntsälä, Pornainen and Vihti form the Greater Helsinki area, rising the number of inhabitants to 1.4 million. Together with the cities of Porvoo, Lohja and Riihimäki, the population of the Metropolitan area rises to about 1,550,000.

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in these high standard Hotels & Hostels 10 Hilton Helsinki Kalastajatorppa

20 Original Sokos Hotel Albert Helsinki

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Albertinkatu 30, 00120 Helsinki Tel. +358 20 123 4638 www.sokoshotels.fi

11 Hilton Helsinki Strand

21 Original Sokos Hotel Presidentti

John Stenbergin ranta 4, 00530 Helsinki Tel. +358 9 393 51 www.hiltonhotels.com

Eteläinen Rautatiekatu 4, 00100 Helsinki Tel. +358 20 123 4608 www.sokoshotels.fi

03 Break Sokos Hotel Flamingo

12 Hotel Haaga Central Park

Tasetie 8, 01510 Vantaa Tel. +358 20 123 4605 www.sokoshotels.fi

Nuijamiestentie 10, 00320 Helsinki Tel. +358 9 580 7877 www.hotelhaaga.fi

22 Original Sokos Hotel Tapiola Garden

04 Clarion Hotel Helsinki

13 Hotel Helka

Tyynenmerenkatu 2, 00220 Helsinki Tel. +358 10 850 3820 www.nordicchoicehotels.com

Pohjoinen Rautatiekatu 23, 00100 Helsinki Tel. +358 9 613 580 www.hotelhelka.com

05 Clarion Hotel Helsinki Airport

14 Hotel Hellsten Espoo

Elannontie 9, 01510 Vantaa Tel. +358 9 825 511 www.bonusinn.fi

02 Airport Hotel Pilotti Veromäentie 1, 01510 Vantaa Tel. +358 9 329 4800 www.airporthotelpilotti.fi

Tietotie 5, 01530 Vantaa Tel. +358 10 850 3810 www.nordicchoicehotels.com

06 Forenom Apart Hotel Espoo Leppävaara Porarinkatu 1, 02650 Espoo Tel. +358 20 198 3420 www.forenom.com

07 Forenom Apart Hotel Helsinki City Eerikinkatu 24, 00180 Helsinki Tel. +358 20 198 3420 www.forenom.com

08 Forenom Hostel Helsinki Pitäjänmäki Kornetintie 10, 00380 Pitäjänmäki Tel. +358 20 198 3420 www.forenom.com

09 Hilton Helsinki Airport Lentäjänkuja 1, 01530 Vantaa Tel. +358 9 732 20 www.hiltonhotels.com

Porarinkatu 3, 02650 Espoo Tel. +358 9 511 051 www.hellstenhotels.fi

Tapionaukio 3, 02100 Espoo Tel. + 358 20 123 4616 www.sokoshotels.fi

23 Radisson Blu Hotel Espoo Otaranta 2, 02150 Espoo Tel. +358 20 123 4705 www.radissonblu.com

24 Radisson Blu Seaside Hotel Ruoholahdenranta 3, 00180 Helsinki Tel. +358 20 123 4707 www.radissonblu.com

15 Hotel Hellsten Helsinki Parliament

25 Scandic Espoo

Museokatu 18, 00100 Helsinki Tel. +358 9 511 0570 0 www.hellstenhotels.fi

Nihtisillantie 1, 02630 Espoo Tel. +358 9 435 20 www.scandichotels.fi

16 Hotel Hellsten Helsinki Senate

26 Scandic Grand Marina

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Katajanokanlaituri 7, 00160 Helsinki Tel. +358 9 166 61 www.scandichotels.fi

17 Hotel Korpilampi Espoo

27 Scandic Simonkenttä

Korpilammentie 5, 02970 Espoo Tel. +358 9 613 8411 www.korpilampi.fi

Simonkatu 9, 00100 Helsinki Tel. +358 9 68 380 www.scandichotels.fi

18 Hotel Majvik Espoo

28 Seurahuone Helsinki

Majvikintie 1, 02430 Masala Tel. +358 9 295 511 www.majvik.fi

Kaivokatu 12, 00100 Helsinki Tel. +358 9 689 9903 55 www.scandichotels.fi

19 Hämeenkylän Manor

29 Solo Sokos Hotel Torni

Juustenintie 1, 01630 Vantaa Tel. +358 10 540 8350 www.hameenkylankartano.fi

Yrjönkatu 26, 00100 Helsinki Tel. +358 20 123 4604 www.sokoshotels.fi

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The interior design of Le Chat Doré by Birger Carlstedt (1929) and a photograph of the café.

Birger Carlstedt

M

- A Finnish early modernist at Amos Rex Written by Synnöve Malmström Photos: Amos Rex

odernism coincided with a tumultuous period in Europe in the early 20th century, when industry and cities were expanding radically. Visual artists wanted to create painting that more closely matched the modern individual’s worldview. The Finnish artist Birger Carlstedt (1907–1975) was creative in multiple disciplines, working with scenography and costumes, as well as interior design and architecture. During his stay in Paris at the end of the 1920s, he was constantly on the lookout for new impressions and tried out many of the topical “isms” in his painting. We can detect influences from Cubism, Futurism, Surrealism and more. But the conservative cultural climate in Finland was not always ready for the young artist’s experiments. His exhibition at Kunsthalle Helsinki in 1932 met with negative reviews, after which he began to paint figuratively. Economic factors may also have contributed to this change of course, as it was easier to sell figurative works than abstract ones.

Le Chat Doré - a touch of Paris in Helsinki In 1929, the café-restaurant Le Chat Doré with its French name brought a breath of internationalism to Helsinki. The up-to-the-minute space was designed by Birger Carlstedt on a commission from his mother, the restaurant owner Amanda Carlstedt.

The press response to the café was positive, but in prohibition-era Finland it evidently achieved little financial success. Le Chat Doré was consigned to oblivion within a few years. All that remains of the café are the gouache-painted plans and some photographs.

The floor painting is considered one of Finland's first constructivist artworks and the interior one of its first functionalist designs. The interior in Bauhaus spirit combined utility with stage-like design.

It marked the starting point for Carlstedt's career as a scenographer in the 1940s and 1950s.

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Harlekiini (Harlequin), 1938.

Mwamba Goor, 1938.

Circus

that he could use to develop non-figurative modes of depiction. The still lifes served as a platform THE YEAR 1950 The circus appealed to the artists of modernism, for experiment for the artist in his quest for IS CONSIDERED who were fascinated by the dramatic, colourful innovation. spectacle, but also by the melancholy and lostness The year 1950 is generally considered the THE DIVIDING LINE in the myth of the sad clown who does his utmost dividing line between his representational and BETWEEN HIS to please the audience. In the 1930s, Carlstedt abstract periods. One painting dating from that REPRESENTATIONAL painted three large circus paintings. They are same year, The Submerged Cathedral, has become AND ABSTRACT strikingly audacious in their composition, even if an emblem of this transition, since it manifests PERIODS. his technique was not always adequate to the task. features of both figurative and abstract styles. The title refers to Claude Debussy’s composition of the same name, La Cathédrale engloutie, which Journey to North Africa in turn is based on the legend of the city of Ys, which sank beneath the sea. Both Carlstedt’s painting and Debussy’s In spring 1938, Birger Carlstedt travelled from Paris to Morocco. composition radiate a sense of an underwater world and of a building North Africa had long exerted a fascination on artists and western sinking down into – or rising up from – the waves. This was not the travellers, while France’s colonial interests in the region promoted only reference to music in Carlstedt’s production; it was to appear tourism. Carlstedt’s trip to Morocco and Algeria lasted barely two repeatedly in his later ‘concrete’ paintings, too. months and was shorter than he had intended. He funded the journey by writing reportage for the Finnish-Swedish newspaper.

Before setting off, he did some thorough reserch and carefully Form and colour planned the journey.

Carlstedt was a diligent traveller. He studied the local cultural The circle, the square, the spiral, the straight line… The supporting diversity, the result being more than a hundred sketches. After the pillars of Birger Carlstedt’s Concretism are the painting’s internal trip, he produced more than twenty oil paintings, with Mwamba Goor proportions and the fundamental geometric shapes based on them. being the best-known. It has been interpreted as drawing an analogy Carlstedt found fixed points on his picture surface by dividing up between painting and music. The paintings were shown at exhibitions the unprimed painting ground with vertical, horizontal and sloping in Finland and Sweden, where their use of colour was praised. lines, and then applying eternal principles of proportion, such as the Golden Section, in the painting’s final composition. Finally, compositional tension was modulated by the dynamic use of colour A breakthrough in expression typical of Carlstedt.

Carlstedt did not adhere faithfully to any one form language.

In the 1940s, glimpses of a return to abstract representation began to Instead, we can see in his paintings both static and dynamic appear in Carlstedt’s paintings. Especially in his still lifes, Carlstedt was compositions made up of regular quadrilaterals, twisting spirals clearly investigating the limits of representation and seeking methods and spinning motion.

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photo: Mika Huisman

Amos Rex Art museum where the past, present and future meet

Uponnut katedraali (The Submerged Cathedral), 1949.

Music Birger Carlstedt married the concert pianist France HIS ARTWORK Ellegaard in 1949. From that time on, the presence of AIMED TO DEPICT music was accentuated in his work, especially appearing THE PAINTING’S in the titles of his paintings. Carlstedt and Ellegaard OWN REALITY, pursued independent career but worked side by side in the studio building in Nokkala. The musician’s grand piano SUCH AS ITS stood in the downstairs living area, while the painting FORM AND COLOUR. studio was in the loft. The two artists’ working processes overlapped in a way that contributed significantly to Carlstedt’s artistic efforts.

The avoidance of representation and symbolism lay at the core of Carlstedt’s Concretist paintings. Thus, the artwork did not seek to make references outside of itself, but rather aimed to depict the painting’s own reality, such as its world of form and colour. In music Carlstedt found a conceptual frame of reference for his works. It offered a fixed point for orienting the subject of the painting towards rhythm, movement or even atmosphere – aspects in which the limits of painting met the limits of musical composition. s Birger Carlstedt.

Exhibition 11th October 2019–12th January 2020 BIRGER CARLSTEDT (1907–1975) – Le Chat Doré AMOS REX Mannerheimintie 22–24, 00100 Helsinki www.amosrex.fi/en Opening Hours: Monday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Friday 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.

Tuesday Closed

Saturday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Wednesday 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.

Sunday 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

Thursday 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.

For exceptional opening hours during holiday season see www.amosrex.fi.

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A new private art museum with unique architecture opened in central Helsinki in August 2018. Amos Rex is a meeting point for art and urban culture, consisting of new underground exhibition spaces, the old Lasipalatsi (glass palace) from 1936 and its Bio Rex cinema, as well as a vibrant event forum on Lasipalatsi Square.

The core of Amos Rex resides in f lexible and easily adaptable exhibition spaces as well as an art workshop dedicated to children and youngsters. The Lasipalatsi’s classical 590-seat movie theatre provides a home for cross-disciplinary activities, numerous film festivals and regular film screenings on weekends. Amos Rex’s exhibition programme extends from the newest, often experimental, contemporary art to 20th-century Modernism and ancient cultures.

Designed by JKMM Architects, the art museum’s new facilities beneath the Lasipalatsi square comprise 2,170 square metres (23,358 sq ft) of highly adaptable and technically well-equipped exhibition space designed for the various needs of ever-changing contemporary art. Along with the construction of the new art museum, the protected Lasipalatsi building was gently renovated back to its former glory.

Amos Rex’s predecessor, the Amos Anderson Art Museum, functioned on Helsinki’s Yrjönkatu in 1965–2017 in the former home and offices of the art patron and newspaper publisher Amos Anderson (1878–1961). Amos Rex is a private art museum whose construction and operations are funded

by Amos Anderson’s Föreningen Konstsamfundet association.

photo: Daniel Nyblin / Finna

Minna Canth

- The champion of girls’ rights and equality Minna Canth (1844-1897) was a writer, a social critic and a spokeswoman of women’s rights. She was also a merchant, a widow at the age of 36

and a single parent of seven. A true superhero of her time, Minna’s 175th anniversary is being celebrated this year. written BY Pauliina Eriksson Translated by Tiina Erkintalo

But who was this stern-eyed woman familiar Above all, Canth is known for her realistic and from history book photographs, and what is social-critical plays, where the themes that were her message to us? What was the woman close to her reoccur. Premiered in 1885, the behind the photographs really like? play Työmiehen vaimo (The Labourer’s Minna Canth (born Johnson) was Wife) deals with the subordinate born in Tampere, Finland. She was status of a wife in a marriage, while among the first to attend the newly another, Papin perhe (1891, The Vicar’s established Jyväskylä teacher’s college Family) addresses the gap between to become a primary school teacher. generations. In Anna Liisa (1895), Her studies, however, ended social equality, morality and the after the first semester as she got theme of reconciliation are raised married to Ferdinand Canth, her through a young female character. science teacher.

The plays by Minna Canth have Minna Canth lived at a time been translated into several when it was not suitable for a languages, and they are still read married woman to study, let alone in schools today. take part in social debate. Despite Recently, several books about disapproval from the society around Minna Canth’s life and work has her, she worked together with her been published, offering new husband in a newspaper and, among perspectives to her work and their other things, had a house built for her significance for Finnish culture. Suvi family. Her husband’s early death left Minna Ahola, a journalist and critic of Helsingin alone with seven children, after which she Sanomat newspaper, writes in her book moved to the city of Kuopio in Eastern Finland Mitä Minna Canth todella sanoi? (What Minna to take over and successfully run her father’s draper’s Canth Really Said, 2019) how love in its all forms shop. In Kuopio she also started her famous was a persistent subject in Canth’s works. In literary salon where writers, artists, intellectuals her plays Canth depicts love in a highly Minna Canth in 1880. and cultural influencers of the time used to meet realistic way, often forbidden and punishable. and discuss current social and cultural topics.

The novel Rouva C (Mrs. C, 2018) by Minna ‘THE WOMEN’S ISSUE IS Minna Canth was the first woman to write Rytisalo, on the other hand, shows us a very NOT ONLY A QUESTION literature in Finnish. She was in frequent different woman – Minna who is happy and OF WOMEN, BUT OF ALL correspondence with her contemporaries, wrote equal in her marriage. And yet she too has to regularly opinion pieces to newspapers and did HUMANITY.’ struggle between her dedication to work and not hesitate to say what she thought. Her goals – the role of a mother. In addition, colourful gender equality, women’s empowerment and reduction of poverty non-fiction books for children entice younger readers to read and and inequality – remain relevant even today. She advocated for girls’ learn about her life and provide an excellent role model even for right to study and, according to the well-known quote, understood children today. the relevance of women’s rights in terms of all humankind, not Minna Canth was the first Finnish woman to get her own flag merely as women’s issue. She encouraged her own daughters to day. She would certainly be pleased that her birthday, March 19th, study as much as possible. is also celebrated as Equality Day. s 26

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The magic circles of hotels

In

Written by Heikki Kännö Translated by Owen F. Witesman

my book Sömnö, I write about the magic circles conjured by hotels, which upon entry allow travelers to imagine that they are anywhere in the world. My narrator, Isak Severin, describes his experience in these words: “The metal-clad doors slid open, and I walked down the burgundy, wall-to-wall carpet of the corridor, the air conditioning separating me from the seasons of the world and the heat of the Congo as the illusion continued. Outside those walls covered in their dark wallpaper it was impossible that a metropolis choked by exhaust fumes could be violently churning.”

I’ve often thought of a hotel elevator shaft as a birth canal through which a traveler re-enters the world after refreshing himself in his room. He stands for a moment in the shower and then writes in his travel diary or scrolls through his social media feeds before taking a short nap and stepping back out into the strange city as a new person.

Woe unto the times we have mistakenly chosen a hotel room with poor transit connections, too far from those sights worth exploring. For example, I remember Rome only as one long exhausting slog under a relentless sun. The journey to our hotel was like a trip to another city. The room was so small that in addition to the bed, space remained only to place our feet next to it on the floor, so spending time there was impossible. We rested on park benches and stretched our backs on the grass beneath the trees. Because that hotel lacked a magic circle, I have rarely felt myself so exhausted than after that trip.

The last day of any journey is always its own animal, something I look forward to with mounting horror. Usually your hotel room must be relinquished by mid-day, leaving you homeless as you await the departure of the means of transportation for the next leg of your journey. And of course, you’ve scheduled activities for those hours: an interesting museum, souvenir shopping, or a final meal in a restaurant that you’ve saved for now. Yet an anxiety fills your mind that you’ll have to spend the rest of the day standing or walking with no opportunity to close a door even for a moment between yourself and this foreign reality.

However, none of this means that the magic circles of hotels are only to be found in air conditioning, warm showers, and soundproof windows. The exoticism of a hotel can also do a similar service for a traveler, sometimes even by way of a nightmare.

Years ago in Mexico, we arrived by taxi in a small village named Mazunte. I was the only one who at our previous, very primitive stopping place had brushed his teeth with bottled water, so I was also the only one who was still on his feet. We stayed at a small hotel on the top of a mountain rising from the beach. The only free room was the best and most expensive in the hotel; concerned, the proprietor asked whether we really wanted it, since it cost a full 35 euros per night. I killed two flaming red scorpions in the bathroom of our room and then set out the extra bed for myself under the glassless windows. As dusk fell, the members of the party who were ill walked back and forth between the bathroom and their beds by the narrow

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photo: Envato

Finally, morning penetrated the wooden shades, and I walked out onto the porch. This was like a second room to our suite, a space with rock walls and a ceiling of palm leaves and a view over the village and the ocean shimmering in the sun. Standing there breathing in the fresh breeze, I saw the wide wings of a caracara forming a cross gliding beneath me. I squinted far out to sea, and straight in front of me, as if out of a postcard, the tail of a whale broke the water before diving down again. My sick companions began to crawl from their beds, and some of them felt well enough to go to breakfast. The hotel’s mainly vegetarian cuisine turned out to be excellent, and wooden stairs some hundred meters long descended straight from our porch to the ocean. We had found the magic circle of a hotel again. s 29

Heikki Kännö (b. 1968) is an author and visual artist based in Turku, Finland. He has graduated from the renowned Turku School of Fine Arts (Turun piirustuskoulu).

Having worked as an independent artist and graphic designer for some years, Kännö realised that he wanted to tell stories and work with words. Kännö’s first book, Mehiläistie (Sammakko, 2017), was nominated for several literature prizes and his second, Sömnö (2018), was awarded the distinguished Runeberg Prize in 2019. Translation rights of Sömnö have been sold to several countries.

Kännö’s novels are set around the world and require a lot of research, thus hotels and travelling are close to his heart.

With more than forty published titles spanning all genres, Owen F. Witesman is the most prolific literary translator ever of Finnish into English. His translations include eleven novels from the Maria Kallio mystery series byLeena Lehtolainen, Sofi Oksanen's Norma, and Laura Lindstedt's Oneiron. He resides in Springville, Utah, with his family.

Photo: Helena Kulmala

beam of a flashlight while the surrounding jungle encroached upon us with a cacophony of chirps, whines, and screams.

When I closed my eyes, I saw images of demons and spider gods carved into the walls of Aztec ruins. Then, the moment I fell asleep, I awoke to a loud scratching coming from inside the bag I had dropped on the floor. One of my feverish traveling companions stood beside my bed. “What is it?” she asked. We were both thinking of the fist-sized tarantulas we’d seen running across the road from the windows of the bus. I turned the bag upside down, and the crab that had crawled into my things scampered under the front door, back whence it had come.

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Visit brand new

MUSIC MUSEUM FAME - a journey to the history, present and future of Finnish music A modern music museum and gallery of honour to Finnish music is opened in the Mall of Tripla in Pasila, Helsinki.

The Music Museum Fame is a brand new, innovative concept that presents Finnish music from the 1890’s until today including all music genres. In the new music entertainment venue, you will certainly find topics of interest and create unforgettable experiences.

The Music Museum Fame honors musicians, artists, composers, bands and songwriters.

The museum brings a unique world of experience into Helsinki’s urban culture with digital and virtual high technology creating new and unprecedented dimensions into the museum experience.

The visitor has access to virtual spaces and situations that have never been possible until now.

In the Music Museum Fame you can admire, play, sing and dance – be in the middle of a concert or experience a festival atmosphere. Come and experience how virtual karaoke feels!

The museum is aimed for everyone and for all ages.

At Restaurant Fame, a living room for Finnish music fans, you’ll enjoy the food of Finland in style. But high quality doesn’t mean you have to be stiff and formal! You can take it easy and dine in comfort at FAME. Music can be seen in our menu, serving dishes, milieu and in our fan culture-oriented service attitude. Book your table: restaurantfame@kanresta.fi.

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Music Museum Fame Fredikanterassi 5A 00520 Helsinki www.musicmuseumfame.fi info@fmhof.fi