Helsinki Photomedia 2012

.

Inspired by the Helsinki Design Capital year, the Aalto University department of Media is starting a new conference on photography. More that 140 participants have registered for the event that starts tomorrow.

The conference covers a rather amazing variety of photographic topics. The mobile phone, in particular in a social context is very well represented, however the dimension of art and mobile phones does not get a lot of attention.

I spotted a few art-related talks that looked very interesting, you can check them out via the links below. 

• Digital Ethos: Transformations in Contemporary Photography Aesthetics subsequent to Computational Art by Murat Germen
• Art Museums, visitors and Photomania by Eve Kiiler
• Between Exhibition and Artwork: Roni Horns’ Photographic Installations by Ann-Cathrin Drews
• How to manage 2,5 million photographs. A critical comment on curatorial decision making by Stefanie Grebe

The conference opens tomorrow, Wednesday March 28. The venue is the Aalto School of Arts, Design and Architecture at Hämeentie 135 in Helsinki. You can check out the full program by clicking here. Note that the keynote speeches are open to the public!

Connective Corridors, be mobile between museums and events

At least if you live in Finland, you must have noticed the “cultural city” fever that has taken Finland by storm. This year the city of Turku is one of two European capitals of culture (the other one is Tallinn just across the Gulf of Finland) and in 2012 Helsinki will be the World Design Capital.

Both “culture city” initiatives are highly events focused. With a lot of events and venues, the word “mobile” takes on a whole new meaning. Accessing the stuff by phone could be an option, but obviously you want to get to the events to really get the most out of them. Meaning you need to be “mobile”.

Even thought Finland has a very high penetration of cars, the city centers of both Turku and Helsinki are best travelled on foot or on a bus. One can only hope that public transport between events and venues is on the agendas of the two cities.

One model to provide visitor and inhabitant mobility alike are the Connective Corridor projects in the US. Personally I think the one in Syracuse, NY looks very nice as it focuses on culture and education. Great concept to copy to create personal mobility to art! And the bus looks great, doesn’t it!

And while waiting for cultural corridors: If you are in Helsinki and want to move easily between various places, the Helsinki Region Traffic has a very good mobile journey planner to find how to get from A to B using public transport. Bookmark it for your next visit to Helsinki!

Asphalt and sunflowers opening night

Today was the grand opening of Eeva and Simo Rista’s photo exhibition “Asphalt and sunflowers”. The exhibition shows Helsinki between 1969 and 1979 as seen by Eeva and Simo. The Ristas have donated their photo collection of some 60’000 shots to the Helsinki City Museum. Out of this massive collection, the exhibition brings you 150 shots in very high quality prints.

For me personally, the exhibition was a huge nostalgia trip. In 1969 I was 10 years old. It was interesting comparing my own memories to those in the exhibition. Did Finland really look like that? In some respects, the changes have been huge, in some others, we seem to be much the same.

Eeva’s and Simo’s shots show a very human and intimate Helsinki with lots of very different people going about their daily lives. Regardless of whether you are a photo buff, a fan of Helsinki or just the right age for that nostalgia to really set in, the exhibition is well worth a visit!

The exhibition will be shown at the Hakasalmi villa in downtown Helsinki just next to the Finlandia Hall. Open until February 27, 2010, Wednesdays thru Sundays 11-17, Thursdays to 19. Free entry.

And if you are not in Helsinki, don’t worry! Aapo Rista, the son of Eeva and Simo, has done a huge job to create a companion web site for the exhibition. The website, to be found at www.asfalttiajaauringonkukkia.fi, currently features some 9000 shots and more will still be added. So regardless of whether you go to see the exhibition or not, you don’t want to miss the website.

Asphalt and sunflowers – photos by Eeva and Simo Rista

One of the most popular – if not the most popular – work at the 3 inch Canvas exhibition was Aapo Rista’s photoexhibition featuring his parents ‘- Eeva and Simo Rista – and his own photography.

Eeva and Simo Rista will be exhibiting their photographs of Helsinki from the 1970’s at the Helsinki City Museum, the Hakasalmi villa (Hakasalmen huvila). The exhibition starts on October 14 and runs until the end of February 2011.

The Ristas will be following the immensely popular exhibition of Signe Branders’ photos from the early 20th century Helsinki. Now the Ristas will move you some 60 years forward in time. Based on the 3IC experience, we can only predict that the exhibition will be an other smashing success.

You can get an early taste of the exhibition, and win an exhibition book, at the Helsinki City Museum’s website.

For those of you that came to the 3IC exhibition, there might also be something familiar at the exhibition. So mark your calenders and make sure you don’t miss this opportunity to see Helsinki the way it was in the Kekkonen era!

Call for Participation: The 3 Inch Canvas Exhibition

Click to download: CFP - The 3 Inch Canvas exhibition for art on mobiles

There’s been a very nice response so far to our Call for Participation for the 3 Inch Canvas Exhibition for Art on Mobiles. This is just a reminder that this is the last week to submit your proposals!

And I just want to remind you that participation will bring your art exposure at Hub Helsinki during the premier design event in Finland, the Helsinki Design Week. It will also reach out to the general public – with mobile phones – via the Nokia Flagship Store as well as be showcased amongst artists and art researchers at the Aalto University School of Art and Design. Could you ask for more?

So make sure you don’t miss out on this opportunity and submit asap your proposal to us via email at: exhibitions@the3inchcanvas.org!

The 3 Inch Canvas goes Helsinki Design Week!

Helsinki Design Week (HDW)  is the biggest “open air” design gathering in Finland as it spreads out across the city of Helsinki, the World Design Capital 2012 . Since the first happening in 2005, HDW has grown into a massive event that takes over the city for a one-week, intensive design extravaganza.

And now the 3 Inch Canvas exhibition is not only going to happen in the same week, now we will be part of the official Helsinki Design Week program!

This years, the theme of HDW is storytelling. Judging from the exhibition proposals we have received so far, the 3IC exhibition will be perfectly aligned with that theme. Expect to see a multitude of artworks that all tell interesting stories on the 3 inch canvas. Stories about the artist, the world and everything, to liberally quote the Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. 

So if you are an artist and you have not yet sent in your proposal to the 3IC exhibition, now is the time to do so by sending mail to exhibitions@the3inchcanvas.org and be part of Helsinki Design Week!