Friday Night Special: The Reddress!

On Friday night I went to see a very extraordinary concert in Kaapelitehdas.

It was the opening night of Helsingin Juhlaviikot as well as a series of concerts under the name of Reddress: an actual red dress designed by the wonderful designer Aamu Song!

Pekka Kuusisto has curated the program which includes music, dance and speeches, each artist performing inside the dress!

The thing that makes it really unique is that the audience is also a part of the dress, sitting and lying under wraps in its' huge hem!

Oh the sweet feeling of warmth and closeness, music, lights and total relaxation! 

Who says we have to sit stiff in concerts?!

I love people who think outside the box and act on it, giving us new perspectives, new experiences, questioning the old, dusty ways of our behaviour. I want more of that!!

It was such a wonderful experience altogether, go see if you have a chance, it's on until Tuesday in Kaapelitehdas, two different performances each evening!

I'll let the pictures do the talking:

The director and choreographer of the Reddress, a sweet friend of mine, doing the mermaid-pose, beautiful!

And the artists of the evening: 

Sin Cos Tan!

Thank you Minna, I enjoyed enormously!!

A dear friend, the artist!

I want to introduce you to a wonderful graphic artist from Rauma: Anu Sukanen!

We visited her atelier in Rauma Old Town, it was as if we'd landed in a dream! I was so inspired by the beautiful, bohemian and picturesque surroundings, that special feel only old wooden quarters can provide.

In my mind it doubles the romantic thought of an artist working in these kind of premises, oh!

And Anu herself is like her work: filled with warmth and delicacy, beauty and joy!

We met three years ago in such odd circumstances: I'd gotten a scholarship for new instruments and flew to Paris to pick the perfect ones. I'd made plans to stay for a few days, and I certainly did, because the volcano in Iceland erupted just then!

After some chaotic turns I managed to get the last seat in a bus organised by the consulate, and when I sat down, the person sitting next to me was Anu!

29 hours later we reached Stockholm, and I had a new friend!!

We've laughed about this, it was one bus ride alright! 

This story always puts a smile on my face, and I never remember the awfully swollen feet or the tiredness, just the fact that it was easy to laugh, talk and just be and bear the whole thing with her!

Sweet Anu, thank you so much!!

Beautiful Frida!!

A night at the Ballet!

On Friday night I got to experience something I'd waited for some time now: the reconstruction of Igor Stravinsky's ballet Sacre du Printemps, The Rite of Spring. It's now showing in our National Ballet as the last part of a set of three choreographies, and it is amazing!!!
Everything has been made like in the premiere in Paris 1913, the evening that shook the audience to their core causing the biggest scandal the ballet-world had ever seen.
Since then it's never been the same.
The music has always been one of my favourites, it's very haunting, demonizing, and the rhythm is amazing, all leading to the inevitable.
The costumes, the setting, the choreography..one of the highlights of the year, definitely.

Check out the pages here if you got interested, there's still two shows left! But act fast, it was sold out to the last chair!

Portraits!

I promised to write about the photo exhibition we went the other day! I went with a dear, dear person close to my heart, who is an excellent photographer herself! The pictures were taken by one of the most promising young Finnish photographers today, Nelli Palomäki, and they're on display in Valokuvataiteen Museo in Kaapelitehdas, the Cable Factory.
The pictures are portraits of friends and unknown, really intensive and captivating moments in the lives of complete strangers to us. It's so fascinating. To create a story behind the eyes, try to guess wheter there's a tragedy or utmost happiness or anything in between. Eyes certainly are the mirror of our soul, no matter how big a cliché it may sound. Even the youngest children in these photos showed really strong emotions through their eyes. Some were defiant, some were really open and innocent, very pure somehow. I always thought portraits of older people are the most intreresting ones. You can see the life, the experience, wisdom, happiness, tiredness, everything we struggle with, the good and the bad, and truly it's the photographer itself who can reveal secrets to us, and in this case it worked with the youngest ones as well. And black&white pictures just add to the whole experience, they're so timeless. We enjoyed what we saw, I could've just staired at them forever!

Now it's Friday and I have a concert in the evening. My husband will come and listen which is so lovely! It's quite rare that we can attend each other's work since they're always in the evenings for the both of us, but this time it suits perfectly!
On my way back home I stopped by the cute new local Café here in Museokatu and enjoyed a lovely Marrakesh Mint Thé, mmm, heavenly!
Have a good start of the weekend my friends!!

Leena Luostarinen: The Tiger Drawer

So Yesterday myself and my Mother went to see the exhibition in Taidehalli! Again big paintings filled with colours, thick lines, amazing atmospheres! Leena Luostarinen is a Finnish painter, born in 1949, who's famous for her beautiful and strong paintings of tigers, sphinxes and flowers. She's been painting for 4 decades and this exhibition shows her works throughout her career. They are truly amazing, we saw colours and shades we'd never seen before, and the animals were just so breathtaking! The space, Taidehalli itself, is also so beautiful, we both really enjoyed what we saw.
It's fascinating to think one's creative past and present, where the power comes from, how we human beings really are just something in between the creative force and the actual deed which makes everything come out. I've never understood people who make such a big number of themselves. After all we're just servants in front of something greater and I think one should face that with this certain kind of humbleness and honour.
I loved the paintings, I think maybe I have to see them once more! It's open until 3.3., go feed your souls, my friends!

Afterwards we were feeling so good we thought the situation required a glass of champagne! We walked over to One Tiny Champagne Bar in the corner of Stockmann, oh how lovely..! Thank you my darling Mother, love you!

Whistlejacket

Today I took care of multiple work-related tasks and after lunch hurried to Helsinki Contemporary to see an art exhibition called Whistlejacket. The paintings are by a wonderful Finnish painter, Anna Retulainen, and they were amazing. These paintings are mainly of horses and her inspiration has been one painting in particular, Whistlejacket by British artist George Stubbs. It's an amazing story, he painted this racehorse owned by the Marquess of Rockingham in 1762 against a blank canvas. This was unheard of then, the blank background, and even when you look at it today it seems almost like pop art, trendy even. You get stuck in the painting, it's very 3-D, showing this beautiful animal in all it's glory. He made the painting huge, a size of a wall really, which added the effect, and so did Retulainen. I haven't seen the original, only in pictures, it's in the National Gallery in London. Maybe next summer when I'm going over there. I'll post a link here so you can take a look at the painting that haunted Anna Retulainen to make her own, beautiful, colourful versions.

George Stubbs: The Whistlejacket

If you got interested, the exhibition is there until 3.2. Enjoy!!

Fashion photography & good tea

Today I decided to get outside. I'm still feeling a bit numb but a little better and thought being sick is enough now! Something small to start with, so I headed to a photo exhibition which has been on my to-do-list since it opend in December. It's called Northern Women in Chanel and consists of fashion photographs of Nordic supermodels taken by a Swedish-Hungarian couple. The pictures are really beautiful and it's all Chanel. Oh, Chanel..c'est magnifique! Go there if you got interested, it's open until 27th of January. Our own girls Suvi Koponen and Kirsi Pyrhönen are also represented! Laboratory, Erottaja 9.

Afterwards I needed a cup of good tea, so I went to Café Fleuriste on Uudenmaankatu. Now this is something I call a Café! I love the shades, the beautiful chandelier and table wear, the white Labrador who welcomes every guest, and the flower shop in the back room! So pretty! I'm feeling the energy starting to flow again, this was a good start!