A reflection on the tensions inherent to interpreting art and poetry in challenging political times.
Finland
Posted inArt
How Finland Helped Shape American Midcentury Modernism
When architect Eliel Saarinen moved to the US and designed Cranbrook, he brought his Finnish heritage with him.
Posted inIn Brief
Finnish Government Refuses to Fund Guggenheim Helsinki
Political opposition in Finland could sabotage longstanding plans to build a Guggenheim outpost on the Helsinki waterfront.
Posted inArt
A Murder Mystery Set in a Finnish Art Museum
HELSINKI — “In the final days of a damp, misty November, the body of a young woman is found in the icy embrace of the waters off Kaivopuisto Park.”
Posted inArt
A Survey of New Finnish Paintings Transcends Stereotypes
KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Dark Days, Bright Nights, an exhibition of recent Finnish paintings curated by Barbara O’Brien for the Kemper Museum, is a stirring reminder of how culturally under-represented that nation remains even in the age of digitally networked globalization.
Posted inIn Brief
A Reason to Headbang: Finland Makes National Emojis
The country has developed more than 30 emojis that function as advertisements for all the things that make Finland unique.
Posted inArt
Capturing Interior and Outside Worlds in Just One Shot
Marja Pirilä has been fascinated with the camera obscura process since the 1980s, when she worked extensively with pinhole cameras and even built a few cabin-sized contraptions.
Posted inArt
Designing Safer Antlers for Finland’s Reindeers
Would this spooky reindeer that seems to have transported from some unearthly netherworld stop you in your tracks?
Posted inArt
The Front Lines and the Fallen: Photographs of Finland in WWII
The military history of Finland during World War II remains overlooked in those brutal years of battles, as the Nordic country was actually fighting three wars between 1939 and 1945, all aimed at guarding their independence. Now a massive photo archive of around 160,000 images has been made available online, giving an incredible look into those dynamic years of the country’s history.
Posted inNews
Will New Guggenheim Force Closing of Helsinki Art Museums?
Through Finnish television, newspaper and blog media outlets, statements have arisen from Finnish museum and government administration that the construction of a Finland Guggenheim, the subject of a current feasibility study, may be funded by the decommissioning and closing of Helsinki’s own local art museums.
Posted inNews
Guggenheim Might Go to Finland, But Probably Won’t
Even after the reviled imperialist Thom Krens regime ended at the venerable Guggenheim, the museum is still trying to push its brand with new art outposts abroad. Yeah, the Guggenheim Bilbao was a surprise architectural and economic success, but it’s not a given that the same windfalls will come to every international Guggenheim post. Add to that the fact that most planned Guggenheim outposts have fallen through. So really, a Helsinki option is in the works? Why don’t I feel good about this?