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I was away in my native Helsinki – World Design Capital of 2012! – last weekend.. Having spent a wonderful weekend in not so springy Finland, it’s needless to say I am feeling very Finnish this week!
Helsinki Design Capital 2012 app Notebook encourages people to observe and upload photos of functional and disfunctional design they come across in their daily lives. The idea is to share opinions and feedback and to give recommendations on how to improve surroundings through design. “When you see something functional and beautiful, or something you think needs a better design, take a photo and add it to Notebook. If you agree or disagree with what others have posted, leave a comment.”
Our Finnish favourite and most successful fashion designer Paola Suhonen, behind the label IvanaHelsinki, is studying film making in LA. She makes interesting short films as well as beautiful mood films for her fashion label, having recently finished her first feature lenght film “7Heaven Love Ways” with a great soundtrack by Chip Taylor.. “Velvet Lake” for A/W 2011 is set in gorgeous wintery Finnish scenery to traditional melancholic Finnish dance music.. Something to cool you down on a hot spring day like this! Summery moodfilm “Where the fuck is my sailor?” for IvanaHelsinki S/S 2011 collection is also worth a look!
A new photo gallery “Laboratory” in Helsinki, located in the basement of a design shop, is attempting to find new kinds of friendships between art and corporate sponsorship. “Corporate cooperation is important for Laboratory and one of its aims is to find and test new partnership models. The gallery owners are hoping to introduce new ways for companies to support the arts and make it easier for the corporate world and arts to cooperate. In addition to that Nokia is the main cooperation partner of Laboratory, the gallery owners will look for a suitable sponsor for each artist. With the help of a sponsor, it will be possible to support the artists financially also when the exhibitions are being prepared. An artist can get a sponsor that shares the same values with him or her. The partnership may even lead to more long-term cooperation between the artist and the company. There is no standard model for cooperation; it will vary depending on the partners’ wants and needs. Martin Parr’s exhibition will show a making of video that was filmed using Nokia mobile phones, for example. “The uncertain economic situation has made companies quite cautious about new kinds of sponsorship. Photographic artists and other people in the field of arts, on the other hand, have expressed a surprisingly positive attitude,” Mäenpää says.”
Everyone in Finland is talking about the upcoming controversial retro scifi film “Iron Sky“. The film, made by independent Finnish filmmakers, is based on the premise that “In 1945 the Nazis went to the Moon. In 2018 they are coming back!” – That the Nazis have been hiding on the dark side of the moon for the past 70 years and are now coming back for revenge. Interestingly the filmmakers crowd funded almost 700,000€ of the budget through pre-orders, merchandise sales and actual investment opportunities. It opened at the Berlin film festival to mixed reviews, but people seem excited to see it and BBC’s Mark Kermode gave it a thumbs up! Check out the trailer!
