This door will close soon, don´t miss it

If you want to see the fine exhibition by sculptor Heimo Suntio tomorrow is your last chance.

I would have missed it without the Anu Uimonen´s text in today´s Helsingin Sanomat – thanks again for the newspaper´s last minute art critic policy.

I am at a loss for the words. The only thing I can say is that I loved Heimo´s works, their dreamlike qualities peppered with a twinkle in the eye.

Above is a detail from Ovi, a combination of a door, bronze and video (2010); beneath the bronze sculpture Alpit, minä ja se (2010).

But go and see yourself. The address is Forum Box, Ruoholahdenranta 3 a, and it is open only four hours  from 12-4 pm.

 

Tero Saarinen was here!

There is magic and magic. There is the power which uses mysterious, even frightening forces, and the power of funny tricks, performed as an entertainment.

And then there is Tero Saarinen.

Behind this gentle smile is a crystal clear talent of the dancer-choreographer-artist who is now world-famous and travels with his company around the planet Earth probably more than the satellites.

During this week we were lucky to see Tero in Finland and lucky to see something new: the pre-premiere of his new work with the working title Blossom & Decay at the Espoo Cultural Centre´s Louhi Hall.

How was it? The most unbelievable moments of pure poetry of the movement and human emotions. There was the dim light of intimacy, the desperate attempts to be free and at the same time to stay in connection with the warmth of a human body – and did I really see the tears in the dancers´s eyes?

Come and see it yourself: the official premiere will be in Helsinki next Autumn.

 

Photos © Paula Hietaranta

Kira and the colours of life

Photo © Paula Hietaranta 

 Our sweet Kira Gluschkoff opened yesterday evening her Everyone is Art photo collection at Luova gallery. The colourful pictures of the Finnish women who have fighted against the breast cancer and tell their encouraging stories are a part of the campaign Pink Ribbon for Breast Cancer, ordered and supported in Finland by Samsung.
The women pictured here are veiled in colourful tulles with the objects or symbols that helped them during the painful process. Here you see one which is Kira´s favorite, too: Anneli Jäätteenmäki in a pose that reminds us from Libyan Sibyl by Michelangelo, showing the vulnerability of flesh and the strength of mind at the same time.
You can see the photographs at Luova until the Christmas 2010. The exhibition is open from Tuesday Friday from 11-18, on Saturdays and  Sundays from 11-16. The address is Albertinkatu 16, Helsinki 12.
But where do the pictures go after that? Would it be a good idea to give them to the hospitals all around Finland to bring hope to the women coming there for breast cancer treatments?

An easy way to Tokyo

Heikki Valkama, the editor-in-chief of the Finnish travel magazine Mondo, is the man who has a considerable knowledge of Japan and luckily does not keep the lid on it.

Now Heikki has written a travel guide Mondo matkaopas Tokio with Siru Valleala. Together they are telling you more than you need to know about this amazing city.

In some cases it is wise to avoid the places recommended by the travel guides – it might be disappointing to meet only your own neighbours at the destination. But this time there is no need to worry: Tokyo is such a huge place that you are likely to be able to enjoy it in the Japanese way with the help of this informative, tasty book.

If you cannot visit Tokyo now or in the nearest future, the next best thing to do is to read this book and watch the DVD Lost In Translation. With this combination you are almost there.

Enron – the new name for greed

On stage Rauno Ahonen, Antti Laukkarinen, Sami Uotila, Sauli Suonpää, Tommi Rantamäki, Mika Räinä and Eero Aho. Photo © Charlotte Estman-Wennström.

A play about an American energy company, it´s rise and fall - how interesting can that be? My expectations were not very high when I went to the theatre, but luckily I was wrong. Enron, a play by Lucy Prebble in Helsingin Kaupunginteatteri is more than a brilliant play well staged: it is surgery.

The phenomenal success story turned foul is such an amazing example how a few greedy men managed to betray millions of people by selling nothing – at it´s heyday Enron was America´s seventh largest company employing over 20 000 staff in 40 countries, built on a lie.

On the stage we see now the drama of it made extremely well. The actors, the stage setting, the rhythm, the visual suprises – everything is running like a clockwork. A very bloody clockwork. Case closed. Or is it?

Beauty for all senses

Tilda Swinton as Emma Recchi in I Am Love, directed by Luca Guadagnino.

I have seen a lot of movies lately, both good and not so good. But yesterday I had a real movie experience: I Am Love (Rakkautta italialaisittain), a film that is a magnificent combination of emotion, lust and beauty. It awakes your senses, it runs fluently and shimmeringly like honey. You can almost taste it, smell it, sink into it.

The story itself is as artificial as the Italian pompous architecture of 30´s, but the shine of Tilda Swinton and the beauty of the photography makes seeing it worthwhile.

Tilda´s clothes by Jil Sander show the idea of quality and design at it´s best: how sensual is the fashion when it gently caresses a woman´s perfect body.

And Tilda – next I´d love to see her in the role of Wallis Simpson...