Take That Step #26 [Helsinki Edition]

Moomin: the country's mascot!

1) I booked my trip to Finland without knowing that it would be during the biennial. I came here because of my son's soccer championship and I only stayed for two days in the city. With the sun setting near 11PM during the summer months, I knew time Would feel stretched!

I'll make a special post about the biennial, but I wanted to give it a taste here. The exhibition is spread over three different locations: the island of Vallisaari (my new love), the HAM museum [Helsinki Art Museum] and the local park.

The theme of the third Helsinki biennial, curated by Blanca de la Torre and Kati Kivinen, is "Shelter". Inspired by the island of Vallisaari, a natural sanctuary with a very rich ecosystem, the show invites us to rethink the fragile and unbalanced relationship between nature and human beings, making it clear that the planet does not revolve around our species. Transgenerational indigenous knowledge and worldviews also appear as fundamental in the preservation of our ecological and cultural heritage.

The combo art and nature is my "Disneyland"

2) More than the land of Santa Claus, for artsy people Finland has always been synonymous with one of the greatest designers/architects of the 20th century: Alvar Aalto. I took my son out of the soccer schedule for a few hours and we visited his studio and house.

It's so much good taste and refinement based on simplicity that I wondered — do people in Finland always appear on top of the list of the happiest countries in the world because they are surrounded by this impeccable aesthetic?

3) I'm obsessed with trees and plants and, in this sense, Helsinki was one of the most pleasant surprises I've had lately. I caught rainy days while here and the ferns and wild plants seemed to be happier than ever! —mosses covering everything in every corner. I went crazy with the plant pots and flowerbeds scattered around the city. I went back to believing in fairies and goblins and I think this is where they all live!

4) Between one of my son’s match and the next, I visited some museums: Kiasma, Amos Rex and Natural History. Maybe the biennial hindered the experience a little. After seeing art surrounded by nature in a shocking landscape, entering a museum was kind of dull (😅). I saw several of the artists who were at the biennial at the contemporary art museum [Kiasma] and loved the theme of an exhibition at Amos Rex that dealt with empathy. In the Natural History museum, I focused on the floor where you could see the local fauna — many stuffed deer, as well as bears, birds and beautiful shells.

5) Sauna is for Helsinki what a delightful is for NY. You can find one on every corner of the city and they are part of the city's cultural habits. I confess that I felt a little gringa in the middle of so many people who seemed totally familiar with the processes — besides, I lacked the courage to jump into the cold water, a fundamental part of the process. My local friend recommended the Loyly sauna.