Finland?s
THE
SixDegrees
english language magazine
great
migration
student-free cities
Page 8
recycle
and rewind
reuseable items
page 4
michael
franck
documenting a life
page 6
Issue 05/2013 www.6d.fi 24.05-19.06.2013
Lauri Hänninen
City of
parks
MAIN CONCERT, TICKETS 68,50 EUR*
JUNE 29th
G
iven Finn?s fondness for being outdoors, it comes as no surprise that there
are over 1,000 parks to be discovered and enjoyed in Helsinki. Ranging
in size, altogether these form some 10 million square metres, i.e. over a
thousand hectares, of parkland for public use.
The largest park space is the Keskuspuisto forest area, which commences
at Töölönlahti Bay and makes its way out to the Vantaa River at Pitkäkoski.
Other popular parks around town include Esplanade, Kaivopuisto, Kaisaniemi,
Sinebrychoff and Vanha kirkkopuisto.
The arrival of spring has brought with it numerous maintenance works on the city?s
parks, which is being conducted by the company Stara and from private contractors
at the behest of the Public Works Department. With the good weather finally here
with us after a particularly long winter, spring flowers are being planted, along with
generous raking of the park areas. This means that the park areas are ready to be
utilised for a range of enjoyable fair weather activities, including strolling, reading
and picnics. But is there anything in particular one has to keep in mind when using
the wide variety of parks in the City of Helsinki?
Lauri Hänninen
Helsinki?s parks are for everyone?s enjoyment.
?Don?t leave any trace of yourself in the parks
after your visit,? explains Elina Nummi, project
manager of the Public Works Department Street
and Park Division. ?All litter should be placed
into the litterbin and please use the public toilets.
Also, no barbequing or open fire is allowed and no
disruptive drinking.?
Aside from excessive drinking, Nummi points
out a recent trend that many picnickers may not
actually realise is actually forbidden in the city?s
parks for safety reasons.
?It has become common that people use
disposable barbeque grills. Actually, they are not
allowed, because if you throw the still hot coal
to a litterbin there is a danger of it catching fire.
But any other kind of picnic is okay if you behave
according to the park etiquette.?
Many types of flowers are now blooming
around the city.
PB13
The numerous parks on offer in the city can
be utilised in a variety of enjoyable ways, with
the Public Works Department also organising a
number of free guided walks through some of the
more notable locations around town.
Lauri Hänninen
GEORGE
THOROGOOD
& THE DESTROYERS
ROBERT
RANDOLPH
AND THE FAMILY BAND
CURTIS
SALGADO
Q.STONE
[The Blues Foundation: Soul Blues Male Artist 2012]
THE BLUES STREET (26 th-28 th ) OFFERS FOR FREE
NICOLE WILLIS
NIEMINEN & LITMANEN
MINÄ JA VILLE AHONEN
MOJO WORKINGS
HUOJUVA LATO
ROBBIE HILL
etc.
SEE THE FULL PROGRAM
WWW.PUISTOBLUES.FI
JUNE 26 th - 30 th 2013
JÄRVENPÄÄ
There are over 1,000 parks in the City of Helsinki.
For further information on Helsinki?s parks: www.vihreatsylit.fi
If you are a fan of parks you can find the latest information about which flowers are
currently in bloom from Facebook and also information about guided park walks.
www.facebook.com/puistot
IN THE MOOD SINCE 1978
* Tickets for the main concert 68,50 euros (inc. 3,50 EUR fees).
Starters
4
Issue 05 2013
Top 5
things on our
mind this month...
Reduce, reuse, recycle
and...
Warm and sunny weather makes Finns
smile
Late May quickly proves it that disgruntlement
is not necessarily the national notion of Finland.
When the sun starts to shine and the weather
warms up, native Finns are readier to ignore their
daily concerns and join the proverbial pageant
of happy people, revelling in expectance of the
summer vacation.
Turning VHS tapes into fabric one
of many eco-friendly products
at a recent Helsinki enviro-expo.
2010s know no rock and roll rebels
There?s nothing wrong with it, but in a cultural
environment where dads in their 40s take their
teenage sons to concerts of Iron Maiden, Rush
and other such acts, you can hardly convince
us that pop music is set out to cause an upset
? youthful rebellions of today take place elsewhere?
Adam Faber
Y
What happened to common-sense
discipline?
?such as in Finnish schools: back in the day,
boys used to be boys as usual; they would misbehave, but were reprimanded and even punished,
albeit mildly. Whereas today, boys are still boys,
but intervening teachers receive subpoenas. The
amazement of many is as boundless as modern
upbringing ideals seem to be.
No
or
aS
an
dg
re n
Fresh food time in progress in Finland
Food-wise, among the first signs of Finnish
summer are new-season potatoes that you can
already get upon reading this. Cook them with
pinches of salt and fresh dill sprigs and serve
them with pickled herring, sliced onion and a dab
of butter. That?s what many Finns do this time of
the year. Later on you can freely pick berries in
Finnish forests and swamps ? everyman?s rights
are there to protect you (just avoid walking right
up to places where people live).
rewind?
Words banned for the summer
During the summer, please avoid talking about
the Euro crisis, government debt, marginalisation, budget talks, municipal mergers? OK, so
we mentioned them but hope you won?t make the
same mistake!
Mika Oksanen
.
.
.
o
t
How
esterday?s trash carrying around today?s tech-treasure was only
one of the many ideas that were showcased in Helsinki?s recent
recycling expo.
?Finns have always been good at creating something from nothing,?
states Outi Pyy, a volunteer publicist for Recycle Factory, who hosted Eco
Design 2013 at the start of May. ?I remember when my grandmother used
to make a lot of stuff out of just scraps and plastic bags and all sorts of
things. The whole mentality has been in Finland for years.?
At Eco Design 2013, over 40 companies showcased products, such as
laptop bags made from recycled VHS tape.
?The VHS tape is just one example of items that has ended up being
discarded,? Pyy says. ?There?s loads of it, it?s free, what can we do
with it? Besides, its black and black is always in style.? The bags
are from Plan B, a Helsinki-based waste diversion project. While
recycling might be an old idea, wearing your carbon footprint
for the world to see is gaining popularity.
?It was once seen as frumpy,? Pyy offers, ?We have a lot of
designers on board as well, we?re making more and more
beautiful things. We are changing the mindset.? Pyy notes
that upcycling?s popularity seems to be tied to dips in the
economy, but that doesn?t mean saving money looks cheap.
Reducing your environmental impact doesn?t end
at clothing, and there were plenty of planet-friendly
products, even eco-cosmetics on offer at Eco Design
2013. ?I used to be a salesperson there... it never used
to be this big. Now it?s growing exponentially, with
an estimated 15,000 people attending. We just want
to introduce to people what the urban ecological
lifestyle is.?
Sami Mannerheimo
Internally, Recycle Factory is looking to create
a community year-round that allows the smaller
companies to be more cohesive. ?We talk together
on how we can improve business and help each
other out and grow together,? Pyy explains.
?The whole event is one big example of how the
shared interests between these ecological and
recycling companies have to come together
to make this into a bigger thing. That?s what
makes us different.?
www.kierratystehdas.fi
best enjoy
summer?
Finnish After Dark
Know your Feng Shui directions and ?enjoy?
the light (the sun) - also from the shadows.
Michael Franck, documentarian
Learning the Finnish they don?t teach in school
David Brown and Mimmu Takalo
Finnish: Syjrähyppy
Head to the mökki with the family, tune
in to mother nature, take a deep breath
and then gingerly apply insect repellent
before consuming your own body weight
in sausage.
Tomas Whitehouse, photographer
I enjoy summer by barbequing and being a
lot outside with my friends. I also will start
rafting in Germany and try to travel as much
as possible.
Eva Peltonen, 6D editorial assistant
English Equivalent: Jump sideways (literal). An affair,
a bit on the side
Anyone familiar with the concept of a bit on the side in English might not be too surprised to find much the same idiom in Finnish.
After all, sleeping around is an international pastime. Quite why you have to jump we?re not quite sure ? but if it means out the window,
then hopefully he or she doesn?t live on the sixth floor.
?
?
?
Kato, millasen nettideittiprofiilin mä väsäsin.
Ihan okei. Onks tullu vastauksia?
No, joo. Lähinnä tyypeiltä, jotka ettii jotain syrjähyppyjä.
?
?
?
Hey, check out my Internet dating profile!
Looks good. Any replies?
Yeah, sure. Largely from guys looking for a bit on the side.
from these interventions,
because some did and some
didn?t.?
Outside the classroom
Starters
In the private sector, Ve-
ronica Gelfgren is also
pushing the boundaries of
language learning outside
the textbook.
?If you learn Finnish online or through a book, you
will not understand a single
word they say on the street.
They don?t speak like it?s written,? said Gelfgren, who owns
Learnwell Oy, a provider of
language lessons, teaching
resources, and translations.
?That?s when it?s important
to have somebody to tell you.?
Her self-described ?not-so-
Helping to make learning
English a bit of Fun
Cambridge University has come up with a
novel way to help youngsters learn English.
about.?
Online
learning not enough
?If you can?t attend actual
classes, online courses are
the option,? said Gelfgren. ?I
think the Rosetta Stone system is quite good because
you have the comprehension
and
? things. I had a student
who used that, he got the basics, but his pronunciation
did not work at all.?
?Online learning is quite
difficult, in the end,? said Gelfgren. ?You have to be very
disciplined, and work very
hard with little guidance.?
Gelfgren sees web-based
resources as just a tool. Even
the site that her company
5
SixDegrees
Tell me about your
city...
developed cannot replace a
LOCARNO-ASCONA, LAGO MAGGIORE TOURISM OFFICE
new learning strategies for
schoolchildren.
?We tried to do something
to help the kids learn to read
and write English,? said Ullakonoja, who is a postdoctoral researcher with the Dialuki
project. The four-year project
has been carried out in schools
to find new ways to learn, including Ullakonoja?s latest
project. ?We did interventions
for 8 weeks, the teacher gave
lessons we planned, and the
pupils could find some vocabulary learning strategies that
worked for them.?
With the goal of combining learning strategies and
developing new ones, Ullakonoja and others worked
with both Finnish learners
Online learning can be difficult, as one ha
LOCARNO
teacher.
?For instance, using the
site I made, you?re never going to learn to speak Swedish. You will learn some
grammar, some vocabulary,
and some comprehension
with some videos. But you
will ne
ing on
ready
want t
a good
vocabu
For
er lang
tage is
Second language, second life
James O?Sullivan
WHILE
watching
endless
reruns
of
MacGyver
may
increase their Englishlanguage vocabulary to
include such words as
paperclip, sticky tape,
resourceful and mullet,
the good folks at
Cambridge University
have come up with
another solution for
boosting
children?s
vocab.
Introducing a new
mobile phone game,
here youngsters can
spend a day at the
fairground as a way to
practise their English
language skills. Fancy
a trip on the Ferris
wheel or having a go
at splashing the clowns
and collecting virtual prizes along the way? Then Funland could
be the path for your child. Not only can kids virtually traverse
the Funland area, they are embarking on tasks that are especially
designed to cover levels A1?B1 of the Common European
Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR). Level B1 is
increasingly becoming the level schools around the world set for
students to reach when leaving school.
?Funland is a really engaging and fun way for children to increase
their confidence in reading and listening skills in English,?
explains Lorna Pedersen, Digital Manager at Cambridge English
Language Assessment. ?The tasks go up to level B1 of CEFR so
children playing the game can work towards gaining a solid level
of English everyday use.?
language teachers and universities
turn to new ways of
online learning.
ADAM FABER
hel Sinki timeS
ONLINE learning is more
than a website these days.
With more digital forms of
communication come new
ways of learning.
Heather Havishambling
has lived in Finland for eight
years and has been volunteering in cyberspace. In addition
to using websites like VerbalPlanet, Livemocha, and Busuu to connect students to
teachers and other learners,
she hosts language lessons up
to five times a week, some of
them in Second Life, a virtual
world where people interact
however they want.
?Certainly online learning is vastly more productive
than simply reading a textbook, because one gets almost instant feedback,? said
Havishambling. ?Skype is
a nice way to teach or learn
over voice one person to one
person, but it?s not ideal. Second Life lends itself very well
to language teaching over
voice: one can have a virtual
classroom with ten students
who can hear and speak, and
have a sense of community
via avatars.?
Second Life, a free threedimensional world that users can build themselves,
gives opportunities for interaction via digital selves
called avatars. For example,
users could work together to
Awaken your language skills!
Learn,
have fun
and
be challenged
On-site or online
www.learnia.fi
info@learnia.fi
Tel. +358 50 595 80 30
Funland is suitable for anyone learning English, and
is available on a variety of different platforms.
How well do you know SUMMER in Finnish?
1
1. Hammock
2. Sun
2
3. Summer cottage
3
4
4. Sandals
5
5. Bike
6. Vacation
6
7. Festival
7
8. Midsummer
8
9. Beach
9
Test your knowledge of Finnish vocabulary by using the local equivalent.
Puzzle by Eva Peltonen. Solutions on page 23
Yannick Ilunga
decorate
a virtual house, or Sciences also have their own
tour the cyber-version of re- spaces in Second Life for varhave to admit that I was surprised
when friends in Canada or
al locations.
ious uses.
even
here
are familiar with
Locarno. Not manypointknow, in
?One
can
go in
onFinland
little study
Havishambling
fact,
that
there is
an Italian-speaking
part
in Switzerland.
Locarno,
tours of
the
world,?
said
Hav- ed out
that
teleporting
to
my hometown,
the region
Ticino,
in the
ishambling.
?Take is
a situated
look inclass
makes
it easier
to SouthatEastern part of the country, where Italian is the official language.
around
virtual London, for tend, and the other users
Locarno The
is a rather
small place,
with roughly
16,000
inhabitants,
example!?
simulation
make
it harder
to skip
class.
but its
landscapes,
mountains
the lake
makes
it a very
popular
mimics
real
scenarios,
which and
?One
tends
to dislike
letting
destination
among
tourists
the neighbouring
countries
and
allow
for more
organic
con- in down
one?s friends,?
said
beyond.to happen between
versation
Havishambling.
While the old castle Castello Visconteo
and the
Piazza Grande
participants.
Improved
technology
al(?Big
Square?
English) are lows
probably
the to
most
famous
man
It?s not
only in
enthusiaspeople
hear,
see, and
attractions,
there?s
plentyinteract
of natural
elements
that This
makes
tic made
amateurs
who are
using
via
video chat.
the city
kind however.
of special. While
to the lessons
Cardada to
mountain
is the
Second
Life,
Aal- a trip
carries
the next
chance to enjoy a breath-taking view of the region (you can
to perfect
University
has had a dig- level, which can jump off the
even see Italy from up there), the lake and rivers offers plenty of
ital
property in Second Life (simulated) page.
chances for water sports and fun in general.
since 2010. Users can visit,
?One can put on a slideentertainment-seekers,
international
Locarno
Film
takeAs
a for
look
around, and in- the
show,
show events
Youtube
videFestival
and
Moon Members
and Stars music
aremultimedia,
the happenings
that
teract
with
others.
os festival
or other
and
gives
life to the city
the summer
season
and bring
thousands
of the
university
can during
also use
give out
notes,?
said
Havtourists
on
shores
of Lake Maggiore
(also known
as Verbano).
theofspace
as
athe
digital
meetishambling.
?It?s my
belief
Just afor
five-minutes
drive
from that
Locarno
is Ascona,
a town
ing room
a course or
a rethe there
potential
of Second
on the
lake with spectacular and
romantic
scenery,
especially
search
group.
Life
or something
similar
will at
night.
Adding Diacona,
ten more and
minutesreally
to thetake
drive,
one
ends
up few
in the
The Laurea,
off
in the
next
Maggia
Valley, the
perfect
place years.?
to go hiking, camping, swimming
Turku
Universities
of
Applied
I
in the rivers or even try bungee-jumping at the Diga della Verzasca,
the dam James Bond (Pierce Brosnan) jumps from in the opening
scene of GoldenEye.
Finnish-English crossword
Switzerland may not be close to the sea, but a trip to Locarno,
Work with
out these
related
words in english
from the
Finnish
filled
mountains,
spectacular
landscapes,
colourful
houses,
clues.
When
you've
figured
out
the
five
words,
you
should
be
delicious food and the lake, will make you feel like you wouldn?t
able to figure
down
change
your out
staythe
in final
Ticino
forword.
anything else in the world. In
addition, everything is so close that, buy driving only a couple
Tips
in English
of
hours,
one can end up in the German and French-speaking
1) Sausage
easter 3) light
ice cream
5) Cold spell
spring
regions
of 2)
Switzerland,
in 4)
Italy
(the borders
are in
less
than 30
minutes away and Milan around two hours), France and Austria.
Last tip: if you happen to be in Locarno, make sure to go for a
train trip or drive up north to see the German-speaking part (and
more Alps!), it?s the same country but looks a lot different for
some things. However, to get there, you have to go through the 16
kilometre-long Gotthard tunnel. It might sounds a bit challenging,
but it?s definitely worth it.
Enjoy Locarno!
?Be
N
C
We Met
6
Issue 05 2013
Telling stories has
taken
Michael Franck to
Tehran, Hollywood
A life in
document
and back again
over the years.
Text James O?Sullivan, photo Tomas Whitehouse
H
AVING arrived spot-on our agreed time, as we stand in the
kitchen of the office that houses documentary filmmaker
Michael Franck?s family business, Franck Media, the
sharply dressed media producer and director is currently
busily attending to the espresso machine.
Owner of the first independent documentary film making
company in the country, Franck?s colourful career has included
stints in Helsinki, Tehran and Hollywood, and has been involved
in politics, journalism and filmmaking in various capacities for the
past four decades.
However, regardless of whether our scheduled interview is
actually meant to take place in more formal settings housed here
within G.W. Sohlberg?s old factory at the southern end of Helsinki?s
Korkeavuorenkatu, Franck is already away and sharing his life story
here in the kitchen as he organises a morning caffeine burst.
Using the history of the building we are standing in as a launching
pad, soon he is negotiating his way through the signposts of his
life; one that is peppered with colourful characters and frequently
intriguing happenstance. As he casually sips his espresso, his story
and observations pour forth, as staff members continue shuffling
in and out of the kitchen.
I understand that your family has a rich history here in Finland.
Over the past 300 years many families have moved to this country.
We have made a lot of films about these people who have moved
here and established here. They have all in a way immigrants from
different parts of the world. In my case, they were maybe Jewish,
and they came as blacksmiths in the 17th century, around 350
years ago.
As a teenager my godfather was in the parliament. He was a very
controversial man, as he was against the president of the time,
Kekkonen. Although he came from the main banking family in
this country, even they were a bit worried because he took such a
tough stance against the president. He was very moral, in a way a
populist. He preached about caring for the poor, the weak and the
old. When I was 14 my first project was collecting clothes and dry
food for poor people living close to the eastern border of Finland,
in Northern Karelia.
But then I ended up in politics and by that time I had changed my
position and was in favour of the president. That was a paradigm
shift for me. Prior to my time in the ?70s when I was in the city
council, I was in the secondary youth movement. I was never really
leftish, but most of us sort of understood the realities of Finland,
even if we were in favour of the market economy. We lived in
the reality that was decided by the post war set up. Finland was
a strange case: as a part of the Soviet Union military strategy, the
country had been ?neutralised? in Soviet terms. We were allowed
to have our market economy, basic ownership and things like this;
our political system was pretty much the same as Western Europe.
But we weren?t actually supposed to oppose the Soviet Union. My
godfather was one of the few who did. He became the ?villain of
the village?.
Anyway, Finland became an oil country. We had a balanced
trade agreement, which was oil against export from Finland
to the Soviet Union. The more the oil price went up, the
more we exported to the Soviet Union. We were in a kind of
oil elevator. Still, we suffered from the oil crisis. In 1975 my
parents? business went sour. My father had a small import
business he had inherited from his father and my mother had
small shops, pottery and interior design. They finally gave up.
But the leadership of Finland ? again, my godfather?s enemy ?
and his troopers, knew that my mother had been educated in
Switzerland and that she knew the Iranian Shah?s family from
the boarding school she had attended. So, my father was sent to
Tehran to get business to Finland. When we arrived there it was
a significant time in Iran?s history.
How was it culturally to live in Iran then?
In the beginning I was spending more of my time at swimming
pools and discothèques, and living there with Westerners and the
well-to-do people of Iran. They very much wanted to show to us the
pro-Western side of their culture. It wasn?t that much of a clash. It
started to come when the revolution came. For me it was a sign that
maybe World War III was coming, a post-colonial revenge against
Britain. We had bricks thrown against our cars, when people saw
that there were blondes.
But on the streets, of course, Iran is many faces. I remember one
British colonel that I met when I first came to Iran, at a dinner at
my parents? house. I think his name was Cooper. He said ?Michael,
it is your first time in Persia, so I will tell you a few arrogant things.
First I will claim that the Western mind is one face, meaning that
?yes is yes? and ?no is no?. Secondly, I will claim something more
arrogant to you: the Arabic mind is two faces, as ?yes is maybe no?,
and ?no is maybe yes?. But now you have come to Persia and this
third face here you will never find.? This was a few months before
the revolution. I then became a war correspondent, and started to
interview a lot of ayatollahs at that time.
So, how was it to physically sit face-to-face with an ayatollah?
Shariatmadari was the Grand Ayatollah at the time of the
revolution and he was put under house arrest. I went to see him in
the holy city of Qom. He was a very funny guy. One thing he said
after we had spoken a few hours was that, ?Now I will go for lunch,
and have a long rest because I have four wives.?
It was very fascinating to be in Iran at that time. My parents?
home was like a Graham Greene novel. During dinner parties
and in guest rooms there could be peace negotiators, people who
turn out to be weapons dealers and representatives of different
minorities. The joke at the dinner parties was, ?Who are you spying
for?? because nobody knew who really was whom.
I went back and forth between the two countries, and continued also
working in Finnish politics. In 1978 I stayed in Iran until towards the
end of the year, when things got very complicated. My father decided
that I should take my sister, who lived there, out of Iran. The last plane
to leave was to be an Austrian Airlines plane, a regular commercial
flight, before they closed the airport. We arrived at the airport at night,
as the flights to Europe were always at night out of Tehran. But the
captain had been so nervous that they had already taken off. The
whole airport looked like the scene before Castro took over in Cuba,
when the people who were allied to the West were leaving. A British
Airways flight had been delayed so we were piled into it and left Iran.
It was a month and a half before Ayatollah Khomeini flew in from
France and the revolution began.
The following summer of 1979, I became a father and decided
I needed a real job. I visited my bank here in the city centre; my
account was empty. By chance, at the door I was offered a job, as
political current affairs journalist on television. First I worked
on the Swedish-speaking side. There I did my first documentary,
Secrets of the Underground, in around 1981-82 which was about
the Helsinki metro project, which I claimed was the biggest public
swindle in the country since the war culprit trials in 1946.
Why was that?
The whole project was all very secretive. A lot of people, especially
among the political left, were impressed by things in the East and had
seen a lot of wonderful metro stations in Moscow and Leningrad and
Budapest and so on. They thought it was a good thing. Then a few
businesses, especially the co-operative business in this country, saw
that they could build department stores above the metro stations.
Then the politicians who wanted this metro created a totally secret
organisation, unheard of in a Western country.
It was said to be the first so-called investigative journalist piece
during Kekkonen?s regime. It finally led to huge trials where the
main guy of the metro project was sent to jail and unfortunately.
This project was the trigger for my getting into documentaries.
?M
y parents?
home was
like a Graham
Greene novel.?
We Met
7
SixDegrees
project and came to be a godfather for it, but there were difficulties. here. That business, the corporate world, actually IS a part of the
I was basically starting up a studio in Iran to create the expensive society. That there are stories to tell about Finland´s rise from one
animation, in a country that I saw as having cynically expressed two of Europe´s poorest countries 100 years ago ? to today?s standards,
?beneficial? situations: a revolution and a war. I thought that the seen from corporate perspectives.
Now, about ten years later, Franck Media has made about 100
funding of the expensive picture might be a bit more manageable
because of these circumstances. Investors were looking at me like, films of approximately one hour, out of which 75 have been
?You are making this picture in Iran?!? Then Saddam and Khomeini shown on TV. We have made documentaries on both family and
started bombing capitals, the war came to the doorstep of our start publicly traded companies, governmental institutions and private
up studio, and it didn?t look very good. I decided to dismantle the foundations devoted to support social and cultural causes.
We are trying to get across the message that companies are
studio and move the artists out of Iran and got them working here
Why set up your own company?
not, as we were educated in the ?60s and ?70s, an enemy to good
It?s a drive that you want to take things into your own hands. There in Helsinki.
I then sent my assistant Hassan, who had been in charge of things. A company is part of society and there are good and bad
is so little factual programming here in Finland. We don?t really
have a business here, as it is all tax paid. Some people at YLE were the Iranian unit, to Hollywood to meet up with Phil Mendes, an companies. It?s funny that sports editors can say that when a
still angry because of my extremely subjective metro documentary American animation artist that I had met years earlier. After a Finnish sporting hero comes home for a ?well-deserved holiday? in
? I had put dark glasses on all of the city leaders and ?gangerised? week Hassan called and said, ?Even if God says we shouldn?t go Finland. Where is this guy paying his taxes? What?s well-deserved
to Hollywood with this project, we have to go to Hollywood with about it? Every time you present a cultural person, or maybe a
them.
However, after this more progressive experience at Epidem, I was this project.? I managed to talk the investors to continue providing sportsman, everything is fine and fantastic. As soon as you get
allowed to produce one or two documentaries a year. In a way I had the cash flow and got more involvement. So, we went there, and close to a company they are ?assholes?. This is what we are trying to
cleaned my profile. So, I started to make one-hour documentaries got director John Landis (Blues Brothers, Coming to America) on work with and understand the mechanics between the corporate
for YLE. They paid 30 per cent of the budget - and the rest I had board as director. Mark Saltzman then came from the Sesame and the public, that every company is part of the society and why
to get from other public funds and foundations. It was difficult to Street team to write, and background painter Walt Peregoy (from things work, economically. If people are used to just having the
take responsibility as an employer, based on ?grants?. I started to Disney´s 101 Dalmatians) as co-stylist, to work together with our numbers, we tell the people?s story. We can?t oppose the facts, but it
is the story around the numbers that we tell.
think about doing bigger projects where I could actually find an Iranian master Noureddin Zarrinkelk.
Of course it is always a matter of getting the trust from business
When
we
had
the
final
storyboard
ready
and
the
business
plan,
it
audience that would pay for themselves through buying tickets:
was January 17, 1991. Our investors flew from Los Angeles to London owners and corporate management, to be able to tell these stories
cinema.
to negotiate more funding, in an empty plane. Why? Because Desert ? as rich in detail and experience as possible, including shadows.
Storm started that day, when the USA attacked Saddam, who had In all documentaries, this is a totally central element for getting
How did you try to achieve this?
We ended up creating a project for an animated feature film, based invaded Kuwait. The Western world went into a recession. Finland access to interesting stories, issues and people: that they can trust
on the things I had found interesting in the documentaries we had collapsed that same year because our main export market, the Soviet you, accept you as a filmmaker, interviewer, storyteller.
made. It was to be called Sindbad, the heroic character from the Union was running out of money and other energies as well. Franck
Arabian Nights story. It was to be about two kingdoms at some Films two main investors went belly-up, and so did we. I remained in We live in an age where people have all kinds of information
point of human history: a northern kingdom with blonde people, Hollywood for a couple more years, and then came home to be with easily at their fingertips. What drives you to continue making
documentaries?
and a southern kingdom with dark people. These two kingdoms my sons, and start over.
They are stories and are not just information. It was said in YLE
are running into a war, which will destroy the planet. Then a dark
when I was there in the early ?80s that ?the talking head is bad
boy from the southern kingdom called Sindbad and a blonde girl What was your next focus?
in the northern kingdom called Aino, from the national Finnish I started to direct a series on Finland´s relationship with the fallen television?. But Krzysztof
Kie?lowski, the director and philosopher said that the talking
epic Kalevala, befriend each other. They eventually save the planet down Soviet Union. The third film was a portrait of the man who
had brought Marxism to Finland, Väinö Tanner. This was hated head is actually the best movie, as most of what we do in our lives
from this war.
The investors came to be a mix; the workers? main funding entity, by Josef Stalin, because his changed his mind about many things. involves ?talking heads?.
Of course the fact that both of my sons and my wife are involved
that owned the workers savings bank here and a couple of capital I found a quote from him stating that, ?A responsible Finnish
investors that I knew, backed the project. And then John Halas statesman maintains daily contact with the business community?. ? and I have the opportunity to work with all of them ? and this
from England got on board, who is the ?Disney of Europe?, and Despite the fact that I come from a bourgeois background, and had super team of a dozen more professionals at Franck Media, is a
had done Animal Farm as his first European animated feature in carried a certain shame of my prosperous background, a bell rang; gift that I could not have dreamed about when we fell down in
the 1950s, based on George Orwell?s famous novel. He loved this if this guy states so, there might be something to study more closely Hollywood.
Then I went international and we did a posthumous doc portrait
on Finnish rally driver Henri Toivonen, who had died in a crash
on a racing track in Corsica. But most of the documentaries we did
were about the growth of Islam. I then worked outside of public
television with a private leftist team I had joined for a while called
Epidem, the oldest Scandinavian documentary company. They were
all more leftist guys, but liked my idea of focussing on the Islamic
revolution. After that I founded my own company.
Birthdate and place: 11 December 1954, Helsinki.
Family: 2 older sons, one 3-year-old son; two grandsons, 2
and 3. Wife Nina, in my second marriage, and a big family
from relationships that we have and have had.
Education: College dropout.
Television is? at its best, storytelling.
A successful documentary is? something that makes you
cry and laugh.
Hollywood makes me feel? longing for good memories.
Finland has? an opportunity because of the Ice Age
experience.
Lifestyle
8
Issue 05 2013
The
great student
migration
The school year is ending,
and many students are
taking flight. What happens
to their stuff?
Adam Faber
I
t?s not only the birds who will be setting out for a new roost as the snow melts and spring takes
hold in Finland. Apartments all over will see students ending their studies, and at that time there
will be a number of leases that come to an end.
HOAS, the student housing group in the Helsinki area, sees a jump in the amount of people
leaving their apartments at the end of the school year. Of those people, a significant portion of them
are foreign exchange students.
?At the end of May there are about 1,500 people who move out of HOAS, which is about ten per cent of
people who live in our units,? states Liina Länsiluoto, customer relations manager for HOAS. ?That?s the
scale, and of that ten per cent I would say about half of them are exchange students.?
But students, like birds, tend to collect things to feather their nests with, and it?s more than just
a few twigs and some bits of string. Furniture can prove too difficult to bring along when flying,
and it?s not cheap stuff, often only used for a year or two. If you don?t mind getting your hands on
something ?near-new?, this is a very real chance to channel your inner magpie and gather a few
decorations of your own.
A chance to get a good deal
?I think many people, many students get rid of their things by taking them to a recycling centre, or just
sell them,? observes Länsiluoto. ?We have a flea market site, but I would say it?s not used as much as
other public sites.? Länsiluoto points to sites like Huuto.net, a popular online portal for selling things
second hand.
Huuto in particular is a big name as far as reselling goods is concerned in Finland. While in a number
of other countries eBay is the go-to site, it doesn?t have a foothold here. There are currently over a
million listings on the site, from armoires to video games, and everything in-between.
Netcycler.fi is another site dedicated to trading away your stuff, and even Facebook is a popular
social hub that can help you sell and buy things: second hand groups such as ?Second-Hand Items in
Jyväskylä? is an example of the community taking care of its own recycling needs, offering space for
Lifestyle
thrifty buyers and sellers to find each other with no middlemen.
It?s not limited to people with a cyber-presence, of course.
There?s always old-fashioned flea markets and recycle centres.
?When I studied at the University of Helsinki they had a flea
market as well, I think the other universities do similar things,?
says Länsiluoto.
As long as things get passed on to someone else, they
avoid becoming waste, which is the focus of services such as
Pääkaupunkiseudun Kierrätyskeskus, the Helsinki Metropolitan
Area Reuse Centre.
?We accept donations. Some we sell, and some we give away for
free,? states Päivi Suihkonen, talking about the centre?s four stores
around the city. ?We do it for the environment, because the longer
things last the less of an impact it has. Every year we make sure over
two million items are re-used.?
The cost of items in their stores are well below retail, because the
centre is a non-profit organisation that seeks only to break even.
?We do not make a profit, everything that we sell is used just to
make this company run,? says Suihkonen. They also work with the
government to hire workers with low employability, which also
helps to give much needed work experience. Despite being a low
cost operation, it is certainly not low impact.
?Twenty-two thousand tonnes of resources were saved last year,?
exclaims Suihkonen, explaining that the group calculates the
natural resources saved each time an item is recycled. ?When you
buy stuff from our shop, you can see your part of that number on
the receipt.?
As far as the gaggle of graduates is concerned, the times of the
year that they come to the city is when the most people are coming
through the door.
?The busiest months we have are August and September,? says
Suihkonen. ?A lot of students are using our shops to find new stuff
and also they are donating when they move out.?
In fact, the biggest problem they have is too many donations.
?There is a constant problem of space,? says Suihkonen. ?We also
take company furniture, and sometimes we have so much being
donated at the one time we simply cannot accept it because we
do not have enough space. That is only large donations, however,
consumers and students should not be worried if we can receive a
donation or not.?
Better looking stuff, better looking environment
Just because people are taking previously enjoyed goods and giving
them a new home doesn?t mean they don?t get a facelift. Plan B is a
project put on by Pääkaupunkiseudun Kierrätyskeskus, giving a new
look to things that might go unappreciated otherwise.
?Our Plan B service repairs furniture that is donated, and they
also make new clothes out of old ones by combining them. It is
possible to order custom made clothing from our Plan B designer
Irina Aardemäe,? says Suihkonen. It takes creativity to find a use for
things that would otherwise be cast aside. ?We have a new product
that is made out of VCR tapes, we made bags out of them. It?s really
cool - we made computer bags, the fabric is made of the old tape
and some cotton. There is an eco-design competition and the VCR
bags are our product for it.?
The city is aware that anything that gets reused is diverted from
waste management - which essentially means less cost and less
impact on the ecosystem. The Helsinki Region Environmental
Services Authority (HSY) pays for Pääkaupunkiseudun
Kierrätyskeskus to teach waste reduction strategies, as well as being
partial owners of the non-profit. Anything they handle is one less
thing they have to take care of.
?If furniture or electronics are still useable, the first thing to do is
to try to reuse it: ask friends, use online services or even secondhand shops who will pick it up for you,? says Nea Teerioja, an
environmental specialist with HSY. If not, large items cost money
to dispose of, and simply disposing of them improperly will come
back to bite you eventually. ?The owner of the property will be
charged extra for items that do not belong to the normal waste
collection. In the long run these fees will be added to the rents or
the maintenance charges of the apartments.?
There are plenty of ways you can take advantage of the exodus
that?s happening around you right now, there?s no need to put all
your eggs in one basket. By giving your old things to new owners
you can reduce your environmental footprint, and by snagging
the new things you want or need you are the much needed other
side of the conservation effort, as well as saving some money
at the same time. Who said that saving the environment has to
come at a cost?
Hatch a Plan
Trend
of the Month
Pet-related
services
James O?Sullivan
W
HILE the rise in popularity of such US-based
?icons? Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian
in recent years represents a dearth in the
genuine nature of celebrity culture, whereby
one can now be admired and lauded for doing pretty
much nothing at all, this global phenomenon coincides
with an increase in a fascination for pets. Once seen as
a humble member of the family, and often required to
sleep outside in a kennel, domestic pets such as dogs have
enjoyed a prominent increase in status of late. Having
become the ultimate fashion accessory for the elite, pets
now enjoy a situation whereby many people are often
taking the same care of them to the same degree that they
would their own children.
And so, for those not content to carry their dogs around
in their handbags every day, a range of doggie day care
centres has opened around the country in recent years.
Why worry about leaving your dog at home when you
have to go to work, when you can conveniently drop him
off at a day centre and enjoy all manner of services on
offer. Now, let?s forget about starving billions living in the
3rd World for a moment and take the time to contemplate
this relatively new craze for those with a truly disposable
income.
After first getting a whiff of the idea from across the
pond in Stockholm, Finland?s first dog day care centre
opened its doors in Turku in the early 2000s. Now, with
numerous others centres on offer around the country,
man?s best friend can bask in a range of indulgences such
as full body massages and pampering, in order to give
them the celebrity glow we all apparently feel we could
use these days.
Increasingly found in many other Western countries, this
fad originated in the US and is just the tip of an iceberg that
includes pet-related services such as beauty parlours, hotels,
car seats, insurances, cemeteries and dental care. Not to be
outdone, with more and more people increasingly living
alone with their pets, it is not unheard of for people to
testament their belongings to them.
What is
Awakening
Awareness?
KVT Finland hosts a global education initiative, which
is supported by the Development Co-operation Fund of
the Finnish Foreign Ministry. The project aims to gather people from different backgrounds together to work
against prejudices and towards a better understanding. We bring the global questions to the local level,
and we want to awake awareness and raise questions.
By inviting immigrants and asylum seekers to our
projects and camps, we bring interculturality and the
reali-ties of the global south close to Finnish people
in their familiar environment through concrete means.
We implement the initiatives themes through non-formal learning and concrete actions instead of lecturing.
We also wish to offer immigrants living in Finland possibilities and channels to act and to be heard as active
citizens in our internationalizing homeland.
How can I participate?
? You can follow our website
and see what?s happening
? Participate in a voluntary
workcamp
? Participate in happenings
and one-day projects
? Join us to do school visits
and camp visits
? Participate on organising a
workshop or attend one
? Share your ideas, life stories
and efforts
? You can also just get in
touch with us, and let?s see
how contribute! you could
Are you an immigrant living in
Finland? Apply to our voluntary
workcamps this summer 2013!
On a voluntary workcamp, you will meet lot of people
from different countries and local people from Finland.
The idea of volunteer camps is that volunteers from different countries work together on a project that is of
benefit to the wider communit. Camps last from two to
three weeks. Work doesn?t usually require special skills.
You should be at least 18 years old, but younger people
can attend with their parents.
Asylum seekers and immigrants participating in a
workcamp in Finland pay for KVT?s membership fee, 10
euros. KVT covers volunteers? travel costs to and from
the workcamp and food and accommodation dur-ing
the camp are free. The volunteer is staying in the camp
location for the duration of the whole camp. We would
wish that the participant could speak English, since it
is the official language of the camp.
For any further questions you can contact us by
e-mail yhteista.ymmarrysta@kvtfinland.org
or by calling us +358 453 422 320
www.yhteistaymmarrysta.kvtfinland.org
www.facebook.com/yhteistaymmarrysta
Decorative recycling can be the feather in your cap, looking good
on a budget!
Huuto.fi
Used goods from Finland.
Netcycler.fi
Internet trading ground
Second-Hand Items in Jyväskylä - Facebook Group.
Keirräatyskeskus
Second hand shop in Helsinki, Vantaa, and Espoo.
Plan B
Helsinki custom refurbishments.
ph. 050 501 4856
More information about camps
and applying from
www.kvtfinland.org
Society
10
Issue 05 2013
Column
How telecoms
lose customers
Have you ever noticed that the companies who spend
the most money on marketing deliver the worst customer
service? This is particularly true of customers offering
services, where what we judge them on maybe more the
experience than any physical product that we can take
home and use.
I have had cause to think about this recently during the
months I have spent waiting for my Lumia phone to arrive.
I first started asking about the availability of the new models
back in October after reading a story on BBC. Of the three
stores I asked, two had no idea when the phones might
arrive in Finland, and the other had never heard of the
phone at all.
You might think buying a phone would be as simple as going
into a store and asking for one. At least, unless you have ever
tried any of the stores operated by Finland?s telecoms. In a
half dozen visits I have never once waited less than fifteen
minutes for service, and a half hour is commonplace. Staff
never acknowledge customers, and at times seem intent
on waiting it out - figuring you will give up and walk out
before they ever have to actually speak to you. At one stage
I stood in front of a staff member for fully 10 minutes while
he did something on his PC, never once speaking, smiling
or making eye contact with the customer who was trying to
give him ?500.
This is your
brain
?O
ne of the telecoms
generously
offers
a massive discount to any
new customer ? while doing
everything possible to assure
that you never want to become
one.?
The salesman told me that he had ?no idea? when the phone
I was ordering might arrive. Five weeks later, he was none
the wiser. I find it baffling that companies operating multimillion dollar logistics systems and multi-million dollar
marketing budgets cannot do better than ?no idea?. Is this
1955? If Amazon can tell me to within a day or two when a
book ordered from the US will arrive in my mailbox, why
can?t a Telecom tell me to even within a month when my
phone might arrive in their store?
One of the telecoms generously offer a massive discount
to any new customer ? while doing everything possible
to assure that you never want to become one. A lack of
competition may be a factor in this ? with only two major
players and a host of subsidiaries, companies do not have
to do a great deal to hold on to clients. They, like us clients,
are also aware that the other company is every bit as inept
as they are.
The problems are legion but the solutions simple. Employ
enough staff. Train them to actually help people. Suggest
that they smile and learn to say ?Good morning? once in a
while. Buy enough stock. And why not provide staff with
product information and release dates so they know when
new models will be launched?
The attitude of the staff I have dealt with seems to be ? if I
were you, I?d give up. Well, in future, perhaps I will. Lumia
phones are on sale online, after all. One claims it can deliver
in three days. Thank God for competition.
David Brown is a language consultant and journalist, regularly
covering stories in Africa, Asia & the Middle East. He has lived
in Finland for 10 years.
doing the tango
The University of Jyväskylä is putting
science into the art, decoding how brains
break down music.
Adam Faber
I
f you get 12 people to discuss the same song, you?re likely to get
twelve different descriptions and opinions. Finnish research at
the University of Jyväskylä has been mapping what the brain is
doing while listening to a song, and there have been surprises
along the way.
?When you looked at certain brain areas, people tended to react
quite similarly, especially when it came to the auditory cortex. But
then also some other areas in the deeper parts of the brain had
similarities,? states Petri Toiviainen, professor and researcher at
the University of Jyväskylä. ?What we were surprised about was
that the areas where participants showed consistent patterns were
so large.?
Toiviainen has been studying how the brain processes music.
By scanning almost a dozen people?s brains while they listen to
a specific song, Toiviainen was able to measure which areas were
active during different sections of the performance. ?It was a very
exploratory study, so we did not know what to expect,? he says.
?The study raised many more questions, there are more things to
investigate. There are a lot more things to do, so I think it?s very
exciting.?
Measuring with music and MRIs
Participants were placed in a functional magnetic resonance imager,
an fMRI, which measures the blood flow in the brain. They were then
played an Argentinian Tango. When your grey matter does something,
it uses glucose. Blood then rushes in to replenish the glucose in that
area, so clever researchers can measure that blood flow to find out
what areas of your brain were just active.
The brain controls the entire body, so having the brain ?light up?
when listening to something is certainly no surprise. What past
research into music processing has been able to discover is that
there are particular sections that handle different aspects of music.
For example, the rhythm and beat is handled by certain spots,
while melody and the tune are handled by other areas. Toiviainen
was able to anticipate to a certain degree what areas of the mind
the music would activate.
?We started with one piece of music, and we were able to predict
what was happening in the brain when people were listening,?
Toiviainen recalls. ?We have localised certain areas of the brain.
For instance, when it comes to rhythm, some motor areas are
active in the processing of music. I find that very interesting,
because it suggests this very close relationship between music and
movement.?
Society
11
SixDegrees
This isn?t the only research and studying being done at the
University of Jyväskylä surrounding music. There is a music
therapy program at the university, as well as a music, mind, and
technology program, which focuses on research surrounding
different aspects of music and the brain. In addition to having
access to brain-measuring equipment, there is a motion capture lab
that can record the movement of the body, so that the relationship
between music and movement Toiviainen mentions could also be
explored here at home.
Past experiments have used artificial music when examining the
mind, mainly to control as many variables as possible. A beat with
no melody while people were asked to think about the rhythm, or a
series of notes all at a steady pace while suggesting to listeners they
consider the ?feeling? of the notes. What set this research apart is
the music wasn?t created by a researcher, and listeners weren?t told
to do anything but take it in.
?We wanted to know how brains would react to real life music
without any specific task. Very often in these kinds of studies there
is a task related to the listening. They might be asked to evaluate
something or detect something. That certainly tells us something,
but in real life we are just listening and enjoying the music.?
not just music processing. To extract those music processing
dependent parts is really challenging.?
Now that theories and predictive models for those listening to
Argentinian tango have been made, the next step is to see if those
theories and models work on other tunes, which means there is a
lot of work left to be done. By taking different types of music and
applying the same ideas, researchers can solidify their theories and
find out if the things they discovered apply to more than just the
tunes used before. That means a variety of artists need to be used,
from Baroque to the Beatles and beyond.
?We have a study where we have used the music by the Beatles,
the music by Vivaldi, and the Shadows. What we want to do now is
cross validate,? says Toiviainen. ?We have build a model with one
stimulus and see if the same model works with the other stimuli.
They seem to generalise to some extent, we have been able to
narrow down particular areas where the processing patterns are
consistent.?
The studies are measuring multiple different things at once,
as opposed to the singular approach used in past research.
Instead of focusing on one aspect, the entire symphony of
brain activity is being taken into consideration. ?It?s a new
area, definitely,? said Toiviainen. ?There have been some
Minority Report
In this new series, SixDegrees takes a look
at the ethnic minorities here in Finland.
This month:
The Irish
Gareth Rice
I
studies using real music earlier, but they have focused on just
Reading music, or reading minds?
Mozart could play music set in front of him both backwards and one single feature, for instance only the tempo curve, or the
forwards, which was considered quite a feat at the time. Using tonality. Ours is the first study where a whole set of musical
present-day technology and analysis, models are being built not elements were considered.?
The research at the University of Jyväskylä was exploratory,
only to predict how the mind will react to certain music, but also
to anticipate what music is being heard by looking at the brain which means that it wasn?t trying to answer a specific question.
However, any further understanding of how the brain works
activity.
?Another process we have is to use the reading of the brain will help us understand ourselves. Discovering the beneficial
responses to music to try and predict what kind of music they were applications of knowing our minds is only a matter of time.
listening to,? says Toiviainen. ?This kind of study was not possible ?The more long-term goal is to localise the brain areas that
before because it was not possible to analyse the musical features process different musical elements. That kind of knowledge
of the recordings. This is now doable because of the advances in could be used in music therapy,? says Toiviainen. ?For example,
if someone had some brain damage in a certain place, maybe,
music information retrieval.?
Brains are complicated things, and separating all of the relevant we could use some particular targeted music to target that part
musical activity from the other things your grey matter handles of the brain.?
With so many aspects to music, it looks like it will be occupying
was no easy task. ?Brain data is so noisy, so many things are
happening in the brain, because of course it controls everything, our minds in many ways going forward.
Legal Immigrants
t is said the Irish are everywhere and that they know how
to party. Of the 17.5 million living around the world, 491
are in Finland ? this has doubled over the last four years.
Like other minority groups they have come because of
love and work that includes IT and software development
and to teach English. There are some who have come on
a whim: ?Ach I just fancied something different?, as one
lively fella recently told me over a pint of dry stout in one of
Helsinki?s Irish pubs.
You could do worse than read William Trevor, one of
the elder statesmen of the Irish literary world, to learn
something about the Irish. In a career spanning over 50
years Trevor has yielded luminous portraits of Ireland and
the essential goodness of her people. His writings make
you want to dive more deeply into Irish culture, which is
booming and highly appreciated in Finland. From Oulu,
through Turku to Helsinki you can hear live music, try Irish
dancing, visit exhibitions, watch sporting events and movies
and, of course, drink the best whiskey in the world.
Apart from the Irish Embassy website, there are a number
of organisations, including the Finnish-Irish Society, that
organise events at different times throughout the year. The
Irish Festival of Oulu is Finland?s premiere Irish festival,
offering traditional Irish music, poetry, film, storytelling,
dance, and theatre crammed into a four-day whirlwind of
activities. For sport you could watch Gaelic football. The
Helsinki Harps play in the Nordic championship against
other teams from Tallinn, Malmö and Gothenburg. You
should also keep your eye on Finland?s film festivals and
check out its churches. In the past DocPoint showed Seán
Ó Cualáin?s Men at lunch and Anúna, the world-renowned
Irish choral ensemble, recently played in Temppeliaukio.
The only thing that you may not be able to get enough of
in Finland is the difficult to wrap your tongue around Irish
language. But if you do happen to come across a group of
Irish people speaking Gaelic, I recommend that you join
them to have a wee drink. Raise your glass and say Sláinte!
(pronounced ?slawn-cha?). You could always just fly to
Dublin as many airlines, including Norwegian, are now
offering cheap flights directly from Helsinki.
In this new series 6D gets to know what it?s like to be a regular immigrant in Finland.
When and how did you end up here?
My now wife was an exchange student in Caracas
Venezuela. She said, ?Come to Finland with me,
it?ll be fun?. So I did in 2006. Last year we got
married and 11 days ago we had a baby boy.
Karen Witt Olsen
Alvaro Luis Moreno Gonzales misses the
warmth of weather and people in Venezuela
? but loves his Finland-Swedish wife and
newborn baby boy
What do you do here in Finland?
I?m a musician in three bands and a bartender
at Pinella in Turku
What do you like about Finland?
Here is no danger, I like that. Also, if you work
you get paid. Even though musicians are not
very well appreciated in Finland, we are still
paid okay. If I was to make the same amount
of money in Venezuela I would have to work
really hard all day every day and also teach.
What do you like about the Finnish culture?
What culture? Don?t get me wrong, but to me
there is nothing going on, in the streets for
example. Culture here means Finnish people
watching or listening to other Finnish people
do Finnish things in Finnish.
What culture shocks did you experience
when coming to Finland?
It?s been really tough. I?m Latin and a people?s
person. To me being human is being social.
Now I live in a cold country, where people don?t
say hi, talk or sing. Unless they are really drunk.
Then they do it all and cry on your chest. The
ladies don?t even like to dance. They look at me
like I?m crazy if I ask ? and I?m the salsa teacher.
Have you been able to settle and integrate
into Finnish society?
In my own way. A few years ago I decided, now
I?m just going to talk to everyone, even no one
is talking to me. Then they would have to either
push me out or take me in. Today I know a lot
of people and have some really great and loyal
Finnish friends. Sometimes it?s still tough though.
Because I?m so confident, some Finnish people
think I must be an asshole. But that?s their problem.
What are/were your worries?
No worries, they don?t bring anything anyhow.
What are your future hopes and wishes for
your life here?
In the near future I hope to get accepted into
TAMK to study being music producer. Finland
has some amazingly good musicians I would
like to work with. In the longer run I hope we
can move to some place warm.
What is you favourite Finnish word?
Kesä tule (summer is coming). It?s so ironic to
me; people are talking about summer coming,
even when there?s heaps of snow and ice outside.
Feature
12
Issue 05 2013
The promised
land
Familiar to many here in
Finland, the companies
SodaStream and Ahava are
utlising Israeli settlements to
manufacture their goods.
Ahava?s excavating ctivities are located in the occupied
West Bank.
Johannes Hautaviita and Bruno Jäntti
A
fter capturing the West Bank and the Gaza Strip in the
War of 1967, Israel quickly started establishing settlements
in the newly conquered territory. Israel has created 124
settlements that have been recognised by the Israeli
Ministry of Interior and are subsidised by the state of Israel. On
top of that, roughly 100 outposts, or settlements that have not been
officially recognised, have been created, also with the assistance of
government ministries.
The Israeli decision makers have taken on and pursued the
settlement project with the full understanding that it is a grave breach
of international law. Whereas the notion of the inadmissibility of
acquiring territory by war is a tenet of international law, Article 49
of the Fourth Geneva Convention, furthermore, states that:
?The Occupying Power shall not deport or transfer parts of its
own civilian population into the territory it occupies.?
The Israeli settlement project in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
(OPT) being a textbook example of the very policy that was
specifically criminalised by the Fourth Geneva Convention, all
the relevant international bodies have strongly condemned the
Israeli decision to launch and later expand the Jewish settlements.
The United Nations Security Council, the General Assembly
of the United Nations and the European Union have all harshly
denounced the Israeli settlements. Rendering the most authoritative
legal opinion of any international body, the International Court of
Justice, which is the highest judicial body in the world, has been
equally unequivocal in its condemnation of the Israeli settlements,
asserting, that:
?The Court concludes that the Israeli settlements in the Occupied
Palestinian Territory (including East Jerusalem) have been
established in breach of international law.?
As an infringement of international humanitarian law, which
applies in the context of an armed conflict, the Israeli settlement
project is defined as a war crime.
Corporate complicity ? the cases of SodaStream and Ahava
SodaStream International Ltd. (SodaStream) is the leading
manufacturer of home carbonation systems in the world. In
Finland, the company?s market share of home carbonation devices
is over 90 per cent.
In 1996, SodaStream erected its main production facility in
Feature
13
SixDegrees
?I
sraeli companies in
the industrial parks
are given economic
benefits.?
In April 2013, SodaStream?s CEO Daniel Birnbaum told the
Israeli newspaper Globes that, ?The products we manufacture at the
Alon Tavor plant are sold in countries such as Sweden, Switzerland,
Norway, Finland, and France ? because of the sensitivity in these
countries to Israeli products manufactured beyond the Green Line.?
SodaStream?s annual report to the American Stock Exchange
refutes Birnbaum?s assertion. According to the 2012 report the
plants located inside Israel proper, namely in Alon Tavor and
Ashkelon are used for ?plastic injection, painting, carbonation
parts assembly, printing and assembly [and] manufacturing the
flavours?, whereas the Mishor Adumim factory is used for ?metals,
bottle blowing, machining, assembly, cylinder manufacturing,
CO2 refills and cylinder retesting?.
The scope of these manufacturing functions reveals that all
SodaStream?s products are still made wholly or partially in Mishor
Adumim.
Israeli authorities have granted Ahava exclusive license to make full use of,
and benefit from, Palestinians? vast natural resources resources.
47 of the Hague Regulations. This constitutes complicity in the war
crime of pillage.
EU?s disagreeable policy on settlements
The EU-Israel Association Agreement, which governs all trade
relations between the EU and Israel states that:
?Relations between the Parties, as well as all the provisions of
the Agreement itself, shall be based on respect for human rights
and democratic principles, which guides their internal and
international policy and constitutes an essential element of this
Agreement.?
The EU is Israel?s largest trading partner with an annual bilateral
trade of 30 billion euros. The enormous volume of the trade gives
the EU leverage to exert pressure on both the Israeli government
and private sector to respect international law and abide by the
principles set out in the human rights clause of the Association
Agreement.
Instead of using its economic leverage and honouring its
legal commitments in order to persuade Israel to end its illegal
occupation, the EU has sustained and indirectly legitimised the
occupation by giving, in most cases, the Israeli settlement products
preferential treatment under the Association Agreement and
allowing European companies to invest in the settlements.
It is time for the EU to abide by its own human rights clause ?
which is solemnly presented as the basis for its relations with third
countries, including Israel ? and discontinue its indirect support
for the longest illegal military occupation in the post-WWII era by
immediately freezing the EU-Israel Association Agreement.
The writers are investigative journalists, board members of ICAHD
Finland (Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions) and authors
of a report on the Israeli settlements, SodaStream and Ahava, to be
published in June 2013.
Ahava offers a wide array of products, the selling point of which is the
mud mined from the lowest point on Earth, the Dead Sea.
Mishor Adumim, which is one of Israel?s 17 industrial parks in
the OPT. Mishor Adumim is located in the settlement of Ma?ale
Adumim. Israel?s annexation of the Ma?ale Adumim settlement
bloc is the single biggest land expropriation in the history of Israel?s
occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
The industrial parks are designed to support and develop the
settlement infrastructure. Mishor Adumim was founded in 1974
to serve both Ma?ale Adumim and East Jerusalem, which Israel
illegally annexed in the immediate aftermath of the 1967 war.
Since the beginning of the occupation, the Israeli government has
encouraged the Israeli private sector to transfer its activities to one
of the settlement parks inside the OPT. Israeli companies in the
industrial parks are given economic benefits, such as cheap land leases,
tax relieves and lax enforcement of labour and environmental laws.
In 2000, SodaStream?s founder Peter Wiseburgh stated that,
?the Jerusalem Economic Corporation offered to give me the site
for free for the first six months, and then for 44,000 shekels rent
per month and also offered 100,000 dollars in cash for the cost of
renovating the place. I rented 13,000 square meters, and it was a
good deal. Not a political act.?
Lately, to deflect the mounting international criticism of
the company?s involvement in Israel?s settlement enterprise,
SodaStream has made the claim that the devices sold in Western
Europe are not manufactured in the OPT.
Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories Ltd. (Ahava) is an Israeli cosmetic
company located in Mitzpe Shalem, which is an Israeli settlement
on the western shore of the Dead Sea in the OPT. Ahava offers a
wide array of products, the selling point of which is the mud mined
from the lowest point on Earth, the Dead Sea.
Instead of extracting the minerals from the Israeli side of the Dead
Sea, the company has decided, with an exclusive license granted by
the Israeli authorities, to locate the company?s excavating activities
in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli authorities have forbidden the Palestinians from
making use of their own vast natural resources in the West Bank
portion of the Dead Sea and simultaneously granted Ahava, an
Israeli company, an exclusive license to illegally make full use of,
and benefit from, the very same resources. In other words, in the
course of its almost half a century-long military occupation of
the Palestinian territories, Israel has created a situation in which
it both dispossesses the Palestinians of their natural wealth of
the Dead Sea while illegally appropriating the same resources for
monetary gain for a private Israeli company.
The business model of Ahava embodies a long-standing policy
of the state of Israel to deprive the Palestinians of a peremptory
norm of international law, the right to self-determination. Also,
the policies of both the Israeli authorities and Ahava infringe
the right of the Palestinians to permanent sovereignty over their
natural wealth.
In conclusion, both SodaStream and Ahava are complicit in the
Israeli settlement project in the occupied Palestinian territories that
is in violation of the Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
This constitutes complicity in the Israeli settlements as a war crime.
Also, through extracting natural resources from a territory that is
under military occupation,
Ahava is complicit in pillaging natural resources in violation of
both Article 33(2) of the Fourth Geneva Convention and Article
HELSINKI TIMES
8 ? 14 SEPTEMBER 2011
A Taste
of Helsinki
a boutique picnic
A four-day offering of
local flavours is
descending upon
Helsinki once again.
B
ringing together the best cuisine in the
Capital Region and Tampere, Turku and
Kirkkonummi, the annual Taste of Helsinki
event is being held at Helsinki?s Kansalaistorin Puisto from 13-16 June.
Once again joining the growing list of cities such as
Dublin, Sydney and London that host similar festivals
worldwide, the largest gourmet food and wine festival in Finland offers guests the opportunity to sample
tastes from 12 top restaurants, including three of Helsinki?s Michelin-starred establishments.
Each restaurant prepares three signature dishes for
people to choose from, alongside a selection of wine,
champagne and beer. Furthermore, with wine tastings
with growers from around the world, great live music, live demonstrations from the best chefs in Finland
and beer and champagne tastings, the 2013 edition of
Taste of Helsinki promises to top last year?s effort.
?We were really happy with how things went last
year,? enthuses event owner Barry MacNamara. ?We
ended up with around 9,500 visitors coming for the
four days of the event. What was really amazing was
that people ate 50 per cent more dishes than any of
the other ?Taste of? festivals around the world, even
more than London. People came hungry and thirsty,
and they came prepared; they had studied the menus,
and really bought into the concept of designing their
own menu from the best restaurants in Helsinki.?
Taste of the best
Located in the parkland behind Helsinki Music Centre,
participation once again in 2013 comes from the likes
of Muru, Bistro O mat, Juuri, Demo, Toscanini, C, Aito
and Smör. Offerings from Gaijin, Olo, Luomo and Ask
join the tasteful treats on offer this year, continuing the
festival?s focus on small, independent restaurants.
With people literally creating their own tasting
menu based around the different establishments, the
event sittings run like a restaurant: people can come
to try starter-sized portions from these high quality establishments for lunch or dinner on Thursday Friday
and Saturday, or brunch on Sunday.
?One new feature this year is chef secrets, which is
a chef cooking school,? MacNamara explains. ?We are
building a purpose-built cooking school, which is being run in association with the Finnish culinary team.
There will be 24 people at a time cooking alongside
chefs from the culinary team. There is also a lot of the
stuff once again that we had last year, such as the Wine
Pavilion and the Taste Theatre, where local culinary
greats take the stage to share their secrets.?
And so, with Irishman MacNamara now calling Finland home, one wonders just what has interested him
about Finnish food culture since living here.
?I?m really impressed as a foreigner at the way that
Finns forage, and the amazing ?wild larder? that they
have, with the wild food here. It lovely to be in country
that people are so connected to collecting wild berries
and mushrooms. This has been one of the most interesting aspects of my food journey in Finland.?
Sidestory
Once again, Taste of Helsinki is bringing the Markka back to Finland, and the purchase of all food and
drinks served during the event is facilitated by the use
of the festival currency. Visitors can exchange Euro for
Markka at the Taste of Helsinki Bank or from the many
roaming exchange staff on hand.
Both 1 Markka and 10 Markka coins are available
and 1 Euro = 1 Markka.
Taste of Helsinki
13-16 June
Kansalaistorin Puisto
Helsinki
www.tasteofhelsinki.fi
Tickets can be purchased at
www.tiketti.fi
But why has the event continued with this tradition?
Well, it?s fun, but more importantly, it would just not be
possible to serve 50,000 plates of food and 30,000 glasses of wine and champagne, in four days, if one would
have to pay for every transaction by credit card or cash.
21
Tastebuds
15
SixDegrees
r
e
d
a
Re
Ste aking
ds
n
e
m
Recom
H e lsinki
Ani
their claim in
A taste of the American
steakhouse can be found from
this Estonian restaurant chain,
recently arriving in Helsinki for
the first time.
James O?Sullivan
CONSIDERING the popularity of pihvi here in Finland, it comes
as no surprise that Estonian chain GOODWIN Steak House has
recently made their home in Helsinki. Offering a variety of beefy
dishes, the restaurant uses the concept of the authentic American
steakhouse as their template, and represents the only chain of its
kind to be found in the Baltics and Scandinavia.
Having studied the concept for a number of years in the US
and Australia, the countries where steak production and cooking
culture first originated, GOODWIN Steak House opened their first
restaurant in Tallinn in March 2009, eager to share their passion
for steaks. The restaurant takes its name from Scottish composer
Ron Goodwin, who moved to the USA in the 20th century with a
few Aberdeen Angus bulls in tow, going on to found the American
steak culture that I widely known today.
Located in the not too shabby stretch of land against the sea
known as Eteläranta, the restaurant is a stone?s throw from
Helsinki?s Market Square, which is already bustling with the first
waves of tourists for the year when I arrive on a Thursday afternoon.
Greeted by a number of waiters upon my entrance, my coat is taken
and I take a seat in one of the leather-bound booths in the dining
area. Black and white footage of Sting performing beams from the
widescreen television perched on the wall, sharing space with an
assortment of early 20th century images. The mood is relaxed, as
the lunchtime crowd shuffles in and out, many of them enjoying
the business lunch on offer of a choice of salad, main course and
drink. Three weeks after opening and already the restaurant has
found a regular clientele. With 75 covers per seating, the dining
space is actually slightly smaller than that of their Tallinn flagship,
but this is proving to be a good starting place for achieving the
chain?s ambition.
Beefing up the local palate
?The idea is to bring the concept of the American steakhouse to the
Nordic countries,? explains manager Helena Üprus. Sure enough,
Burgers join a variety of other foods also on the menu.
GOODWIN
Steak House
Eteläranta 14
Helsinki
Open everyday 11:00-23:00
tel. +358 (0) 50 4198 000
www.steak.fi
the waiter soon arrives with a platter of raw meat to inspect, a
presentation of the various cuts of marbled Black Angus beef on
offer from Australia. For those who need further visual cues, a
sketch of a bull is available on the place mat before me, outlining
the various cuts of meat that the restaurant serves. The variety of
beef on offer is impressive, and I eventually choose the 220g New
York steak (?24.50), medium rare with a side of fried potatoes
and mushrooms (?6). Interestingly, the restaurant isn?t so keen to
overcook the beef for their clientele, suggesting to customers that
they shouldn?t have their steak cooked well done. ?The meat is
so tender and has great flavours,? Üprus reasons. For some extra
flavour on the side I choose the spicy sauce made from herbs and
garlic. With the first sauce provided free of charge, if one wants
to season their meat with other tastes then for ?3 they can try the
very popular GOODWIN?s sauce of red wine, berries and honey,
pepper sauce of cream and fresh pepper or mushroom sauce of
cream and mushrooms. However, even after such an impressive
meaty presentation, Üprus is keen to point out that steak isn?t the
only thing on the restaurant?s menu.
?Not everyone takes beef, so we also have fish, soups, hamburger
and lamb,? she offers. ?We make all of our food 100 per cent in
our kitchen, also the sauces. Everything is quite healthy, as we use
Spanish oven to prepare the beef, the Josper; we only cook with a
real fire?
Cenk Yakinlar
?I really like the authentic flavours of the buffet,?
exclaims Jukka Saarinen. Sure enough, with a wide
variety of hot and cold items on offer both from the
buffet or the extensive a la carte list, this Helsinki
institution has been serving up Turkish flavours for
the past 30 years. ?The interior is cosy, especially in
the middle of winter, and with the sea just around the
corner, it makes for a nice place to walk off any over
indulgences from the dinner table.?
Ani
Telakkakatu 2
Helsinki
In this series, 6D readers tell about their local favourite
place to grab a coffee, sip on a beer or enjoy a bite to eat.
Send a brief email to james@6d.fi, and let us know what
you recommend!
What Finns
are eating
A range of desserts are on offer.
Time to taste
The waiter soon brings a carafe to the table of house red,
Tempranillo, (?6.50 for 12.5 cl). This is not the only choice
available, and for those seeking further variety the restaurant
also offers a selection of some 30 wines. The food arrives and
before I can tuck in, I am asked by the waiter to cut into the
beef to make sure it has been cooked correctly. Slicing the meat
is remarkably easy, with the huge steak knife on the right of
my plate facilitating the action swiftly. Sure enough, the meat?s
darker exterior is offset by the pink, rare middle. The spicy
sauce complements the meat perfectly, adding some zing to the
beef ?s natural taste. However, given the full, smoky flavour of
the steak, one could almost get away without anything alongside
their meat if needs be.
Before long both of my plates are empty, along with my wine glass
and I?m sitting in the afterglow of what was an enjoyable meal.
Feeling content, I?m not craving any of the various desserts on offer,
and decide to order an espresso (?3) instead. After a suitable burst
of caffeine, it?s time to leave and I am soon retrieving my coat and
heading out into the Helsinki spring, satisfied with the experience
on offer at GOODWIN.
Marbled beef?
While your idea of mixing hard surfaces with meat might be restricted to that witnessed in the first
Rocky movie, with the pugilist?s fists pounding carcasses in a meat cooler-based montage, the reality
of marbled beef is something not altogether too strange after all. Here the meat actually just contains
various amounts of intramuscular fat weaving through the muscle, giving it an appearance similar to a
marble pattern. With the animal fed a high amount of cereal grains, such as corn or barley, this process
changes the colour of the fat from yellow to white. To create this marble effect though their meat, the
animals that make up the beef used at GOODWIN Steak House have been grain fed for 100 days.
this month
Kallerna
Grilliruoka
Now with summer well and truly around the corner,
Finns turn their focus to the humble grill. Whether
its a big sturdy Weber perched on the back deck, or
a single use number handy for grilling their favourite
makkara, it?s of no consequence. Now is the time to
kick back, bask in the endless daylight and make the
most of all the Vitamin D you can muster up. Throw
in a tub of beetroot salad, a few local cans of beer
and you have yourself a makeshift BBQ experience
in no time. Or, spend some time to prepare and enjoy
the fine local produce that?s in season, creating all
manner of accompaniments for your meaty fare.
Just don?t forget the Turun sinappi!
23 ? 29 MAY 2013
HELSINKI TIMES
Customer service points
Rautatientori Metro Station
(by Central Railway Station)
Itäkeskus Metro Station
Pasila, Opastinsilta 6A
Monthly review
HSL Customer service tel. 09 4766 4000
(Mon-Fri 7am-7pm, Sat-Sun 9am-5pm)
Advice on public transport routes,
timetables and tickets, Travel Card
assistance and lost Travel Cards
HSL Helsinki Region Transport
PO BOX 100, 00077 HSL
www.hsl.fi
Take the ferry to Suomenlinna
The popular tourist attraction is only a
15-minute sea voyage away from Helsinki
centre.
On the Suomenlinna fortress island you can admire historical
sites with their fortifications and cannons and relax in a café or
having a picnic.
The ferry to Suomenlinna leaves from Kauppatori (Market
Square), right in the heart of the city. The journey in itself is an
experience and an excellent way of seeing Helsinki from the sea.
On weekdays, ferries go approximately every twenty minutes
and at weekends, at their most frequent, every fifteen minutes.
Summer timetables will be in effect until 15 September.
Spend the whole day on the fortress island
Helsinki internal tickets and regional tickets are valid on the
Suomenlinna ferry. Special Suomenlinna tickets, valid for 12
hours, are also available for the ferry.
The adult Suomenlinna ticket costs EUR 5 and children?s
ticket EUR 2.50. The tickets can only be used on the ferry.
Suomenlinna tickets can be purchased in the pavilion at the
Kauppatori ferry terminal and the ticket machines in front of it.
The pavilion is open every day from 9.15 am to 6 pm between
June and mid-August.
The tickets are also available at HSL?s service points, R-kiosks
and Helsinki City Tourist Office, for example. Tickets are not sold
on the ferry.
Summer timetables
to operate only for eight weeks
This summer HSL will not publish
summer timetable booklets because the timetables will only be
in effect for two months. Timetable leaflets for individual routes
will be available on buses and
trams and at HSL service points.
An increasing number of passengers are using online and mobile services to access timetable
information. HSL for example offers an online service where you
can search timetables for any
stop and, selecting the routes
you use most often, create your
own, tailored timetable.
This year summer timetables
will run from Monday 17 June.
HSL is responding to its customers` needs by shortening the duration of the summer timetables.
During the summer period, passenger capacity will be reduced
mainly on peak hour services.
Next autumn, HSL will bring
out timetable booklets for Helsinki, Espoo and Vantaa but will
not distribute them to households. The booklets will be available at the HSL service points.
Autumn timetables will come into effect on 12 August.
HSL?s day
ticket is the best
option for visitors
Hakaniemi
track work to continue
throughout the summer
Day tickets are ideal for occasional
users of public transport who make
several journeys during one or more
days. You can purchase a day ticket
for 1 to 7 days.
The ticket allows unlimited travel on all modes of transport ? buses, trams, the Metro, commuter trains
and the ferry to Suomenlinna.
You can choose the area for which
you need a ticket: there are one-zone
tickets, e.g. for Helsinki, as well as regional and extended regional tickets.
A Helsinki internal one-day ticket for
adults costs EUR 8, a regional ticket EUR 12. Children travel at half the
adult fare.
The tickets are sold, for example,
at HSL?s service points, Helsinki City
Tourist Office and metropolitan area
K-Citymarkets, Prisma stores and Rkiosks.
The work on tram tracks in Hakaniemi will continue until the end of September. The second phase of the renovation will begin on 17 June, which
will cause changes to the diversion
routes. Trams from the Porthaninkatu route will be diverted to run along
Hämeentie.
Trams 1, 1A, 3B and 9 will run via
Hämeenkatu. From Hämeenkatu,
trams 3B and 9 will turn to Helsinginkatu while trams 1 and 1A will take
Mäkelänkatu. The tram will not serve
Sturenkatu, Alppiharju or Kallio.
Besides replacing tracks, the lid
of the ticket hall of the Metro, i.e.
the base of the stop area, will be replaced. The Metro entrance building
between the tracks will also undergo
repair work and the entrance will remain closed until the work has been
completed.
7
Cultitude
17
SixDegrees
Visual feast
from
McCurry
James O?Sullivan
photo
Steve McCurry
S
panning his entre career that has stretched over
three decades, a major exhibition of world-renowned
photographer Steve McCurry is on display at Helsinki?s
Taidehalli from Saturday 1 June until Sunday 4 August.
One of the most iconic voices in contemporary photography
for more than 30 years, McCurry?s work has graced numerous
magazine and book covers, over a dozen books, and exhibitions
around the world.
Having traversed the globe and investigated the Earth?s deepest
corners, McCurry continues to unveil a multitude of unknown and
remote existences that reside there. Here some of his most iconic
images are on display, with his works embracing a basic truth of
the universal human experience, there is always a pervasive and
unifying commonality between his subjects.
McCurry?s career was launched when he took off to freelance in
India, embarking on his first of many visits to the subcontinent. His
name truly shone in the international spotlight when he snuck across
the border into rebel-controlled areas of Afghanistan immediately
before the Soviet invasion in 1979. His subsequent photos were
published around the world, and were among the first to detail the
conflict. His efforts were recognised by being the recipient of the
Robert Capa Gold Medal, an award dedicated to photographers
exhibiting exceptional courage and enterprise.
Subsequent years have seen him covering many areas of
international and civil conflict, including Beirut, Cambodia, the
Philippines, the Gulf War, the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and
Tibet.
Steve McCurry, Shaolin-monks training, Zhengzhou, China, 2004
?What is important to my work is the individual picture,? he
states on his website. ?I photograph stories on assignment, and of
course they have to be put together coherently. But what matters
most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and
feeling.?
For those who seek a closer
look at the man and his
Steve McCurry
work, he will be appearing at
1 June-4 August
Taidehalli on Friday 31 May at
Taidehalli
14:00 to give a lecture about his
Nervanderinkatu 3
work and career. Bookings for
Helsinki
this excellent opportunity must
be made in advance.
Matt Valentine
Festival
in
poetry
James O?Sullivan
C
Annikki Poetry Festival
8 June ?
Annikinkuja 2?
Tampere?
www.annikinkatu.net/
runofestivaali2013
ELEBRATING its 10th
anniversary this year, the
Annikki Poetry Festival
is being held once again in
Tampere, on 8 June. One of the
most significant poetry events
across the country, the festival has branched out in recent years to
incorporate also music and arts.
A non-profit event organised by volunteers, the festival venue is
once again to be found at a 100-year-old wooden quarter in the
centre of Tampere, which continues to create a warm and special
atmosphere where poets and their audience come together.
The theme of this year?s festival is ?The Earth?, which aims to
explore and celebrate the diversity of the world and poetry. 2013?s
edition brings with it the promise of more international
performers on the bill than ever before. Furthermore, not to be
outdone, Jenni Haukio, the First Lady of Finland, is the patron
of this year?s gathering.
The programme this year includes American poet Anne
Waldman. Often referred to as being the youngest of the Beat
poets, Waldman has been one of the most prominent figures in
American poetry for decades. A pioneer of modern performance
poetry, she has published almost 50 works of poetry and several
audio records during her time. Performing in Finland for the
first time, over the years Waldman has worked with the likes of
Gregory Corso, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg and
Bob Dylan.
Furthermore, Japanese poet Kido Shuri is also attending
the festival for the first time. Having published nine poetry
collections since 1986, the Finnish translation of his work will
be published at the Annikki Poetry Festival. Meanwhile, Dutch
singer-songwriter and a harpist Habiba will be appearing. Singing
in English and accompanying himself on the harp, Habiba?s songs
are unashamedly feminine, and are influenced by both folk and
jazz music.
On the local scene, musician and composer Kaj Chydenius
will be performing with singer Taru Nyman, as he performs
his much-appreciated blend of poetry, politics and popular
music. Known for his translations of Japanese literature into
Finnish, Kai Nieminen has become one the most loved lyric
poets in Finland with his lucid poetic expression that aims
to reach the core of existence. He will perform with the aptly
named guitarist Kai Nieminen. Poet, author and translator
Eira Stenberg will also be appearing, as well as northern Sami
poet and singer-songwriter Niillas Holmberg and Helsinki
poet Veera Antsalo.
Finally, if one day is not enough poetry celebration for you,
then the tradition of Annikki OFF that commenced last year
will see numerous cultural events on offer outside of the official
programme. More information and the full programme can be
found at the festival website.
Finglish expression
James O?Sullivan
D
ocumenting Finnish Americans and Finnish Canadians,
Vesa Oja?s exhibition Finglish is on display from 8 May
until 28 July at The Finnish Museum of Photography. The
collection of images reveals the dreams, utopias and homesickness
of the various immigrants he has come into contact with, and
documents their Finnish-flavoured North American life.
Comprising some 70 photographs, the eight-year project
began in 2004, when Oja left for North America. Following in
the footsteps of his uncle and aunt who had earlier moved over
there, during his many trips to the continent, Oja drove for tens
of thousands of kilometres and met and photographed hundreds
of Finnish Americans and Finnish Canadians. Capturing images
also of their descendants, and places related to their history,
Oja also became accustomed to the use of broken Finnish, or
Finglish, which was the overwhelming parlance of these people,
both old and young.
Furthermore he became acquainted with the landscapes in the
Keeping it on
the lo-fi
James O?Sullivan
I
f it?s soft tones of dreamy lo-fi angst that appeal to you
the most, then brace yourself for an avalanche of muted
sounds on Friday 3 June, when Kurt Vile shuffles onto
the Tavastia stage.
The singer made his commercial recording debut in 2008
with Constant Hitmaker, a collection of tunes that had been
predominantly recorded at home onto CD-R, bundled with
a clutch of studio polished tracks. Creating immediate waves
on the indie rock underground scene, comparisons to Bruce
Springsteen and Tom Petty emerged almost as quickly as
his star began to rise over a series of albums that embraced
his hands-in-pockets approach to pessimism.
Previously, Kurt Vile & The Violators have visited Finland
twice. Touring in support of impressive fourth full-length
album Smoke Ring for My Halo at Tavastia in August 2011,
this well-received gig was followed by an appearance last
summer?s Kuudes Aisti festival, where they were one of the
headliners of the event.
However, those who attended either of these gigs will
be in for a different Violators experience this time around
in June. The departure of long-time bandmate Adam
Granduciel (guitar) and the firing of Mike Zanghi (drums),
have occurred in recent times. Unperturbed, Vile and his
new crew arrive on the back of his well-received fifth studio
album, Wakin on a Pretty Daze.
Kurt Vile & The Violators
3 June, 22:00
Tickets ?25-27
Tavastia
Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6, Helsinki
Vesa Oja
Great Lakes region, FinnFests, Finntowns and the villages of
Kaleva, Toivola and Onnela. During his numerous journeys, he
bore witness to numerous unbelievable stories ? a mix of happy,
tragic and moving tales revolving around immigrant life that
exists far away from Finnish shores.
Also on display at the exhibition is the short film, Rauntrippi
Piutista Suppuriin, directed by Jenni Stammeier, which
recounts the many trips taken by Oja to capture his subjects.
The documentary tells the tales of various Finnish Americans
and Finnish Canadians, and reveals numerous photographs
that have not been included in the exhibition or the related
book.
Vesa Oja ? Finglish
8 May-28 July
The Finnish Museum of Photography?
The Cable Factory?
Tallberginkatu 1G
Helsinki
Vesa Oja- Bill Kunnas,
Udora, Ontario, Canada,
2005
Reviews
18
Issue 05 2013
Forthcoming flicks
What?s on at the cinema over the coming weeks.
Ryan Gosling goes searching for stylised violence in Only God Forgives.
The Hangover Part III
Although the second instalment of the franchise saw the guys quite literally repeating the
formula by heading down to Bangkok for a spot of retracing their steps after another night out
on the tiles, the third instalment arrives with the promise of a premise that might thankfully be
a little more removed from the previous two. Surprisingly for a film of this stature, not much is
really known about it contents thus far. The storyline sees the Wolfpack setting out in search of
Mr. Chow after Doug is kidnapped by a criminal seeking to recover 21 million dollars from the
diminutive hustler as the crew of Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis and Ken Jeong
all return, along with new additions John Goodman, and Melissa McCarthy. Huge box office is
predictably predicted. The quality of the final product remains anyone?s guess.
Premieres 29 May
Only God Forgives
Here offers the welcome reteaming of Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn and star Ryan
Gosling, reuniting for a crime drama set in Thailand. Powerful crime boss (Kristin Scott Thomas)
seeks vengeance for the murder of her son, who has been offed while running a Thai boxing club
that has been covering for a lucrative drug smuggling operation. With Gosling playing the other
sibling, things are bound to go pear shaped in a flurry of stylised violence.
Premieres 7 June
The Big Wedding
After Silver Linings Playbook reminded audiences that Robert De Niro could actually still act,
here we have something that appears to be a familiar sight of the once brilliant actor dressing
down for a paycheck. When their adopted son Alejandro (Ben Barnes) announces his upcoming
wedding to Missy (Amanda Seyfried), happily divorced parents Don (De Niro) and Ellie (Diane
Keaton) pretend that they are still married in order to stay on the good side of their son?s motherin-law. With Robin Williams, Susan Sarandon, Katherine Heigl, and Topher Grace co-starring,
all signs point to an enjoyable experience, but reviews have been lackluster.
Premieres 7 June
After Earth
Once again trading on the goodwill accumulated by the one-two punch of The Sixth Sense and
Unbreakable, director M. Night Shyamalan returns after the disastrous The Last Airbender
with the one-two punch of Will Smith and his son Jaden. Here they play father-and-son space
travellers who crash-land on a desolate planet Earth 1,000 years in the future. All they now need
to do is fight to find a way back home in this sci-fi action thriller.
Premieres 14 June
GAMES
Star Trek
(Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
some enjoyment in this thirdperson co-op-centric shooter,
but the general execution is
lacklustre and unpolished. 5/10
I guess we?re
still waiting for
a killer movie
tie-in to come
along as Star
Trek fails on too
many levels to
be considered a must-buy. Fans
of the franchise will no doubt find
Far Cry: Blood Dragon
(Xbox 360, PS3, PC)
Blood Dragon has a lot going
for it. It?s a retro-themed
homage to bad ?80s action
movies
wrapped
up
in
some good looking graphics
courtesy of the Far Cry engine
that will keep you chuckling
all the way
t h r o u g h
the
game.
D e s p i t e
the frankly
b o n k e r s
background
the
game
itself holds enough variety
and challenge to keep you
entertained for a fair few
hours.
The
voice-acting,
music, and research is also
impressive. 9/10
24
24 ?
? 30
30 JANUARY
JANUARY 2013
2013
RKINg LIFE
FLOW 2013
d-high year of lay-offs.
midrned
pects
largeduiries,
bout
r the
axe.?
layunity
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epretion,
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SUVILAHTI, HELSINKI
more than 1,000 providers
of adult education services
? adult upper secondary institutions, folk high schools,
vocational institutes, universities, polytechnics and
private service providers ?
also offer teaching on weekends, in the evenings and in
intensive periods.
The offerings include degree programmes, preparatory training, general education
and on-the-job training for
employees. In addition, students can select between
distance learning, online
learning, multi-form learning, independent studies,
apprenticeship training or labour market training. Naturally, recreational courses in
arts, crafts, languages, sports
and computer skills are also
available.
Statistics Finland suggests that, in total, adult education providers offered
approximately 5.6 million
classroom hours of teaching
in non-degree programmes
in 2011. According to Studentum.fi, nearly 1.7 million
Finns partake in adult education every year.
There is also an earningsrelated allowance available
for persons who have been
employed by a Finnish employer or have worked as a
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The demand for a skilled
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business without formal com+ ADDITIONAL SELLERS FEES
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Moreover, the shortterm recreational study programmes offered by folk high
schools are popular. ?The on job alternation leaves conone-year programmes in sider indulging in studies ofmanual skills and languages fered by folk high schools,?
are extremely popular. Many Hakola says.
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20
Issue 05 2013
By Anna-Maija Lappi
26 May. Festival Club Niubi // Filastine
Tickets ?10/12. www.barloose.com
Autio // Afrobeat. Semifinal, Urho
feat Nova (INA/USA) & LCMDF.
31 May. Deep Space Helsinki // Tripeo
Kekkosen katu 4-6. Tickets ?9/10.
Virgin Oil CO., Mannerheimintie 5.
(NLD). Kuudes Linja, Hämeentie 13.
www.semifinal.fi
23 May. JVG & JKN livebändi,
Tickets ?8. www.virginoil.fi
Tickets ?10. www.kuudeslinja.com
7 Jun. Avicii (SWE) // Swedish top DJ.
MäkGälis, Sini Sabotage // Finnish
27 May. Purling Hiss (USA) // Lo-fi
31 May. Viitasen Piia & Topi Saha //
Suvilahti. Tickets ?54-125.
rap. Tavastia, Urho Kekkosen
rock. Kuudes Linja, Hämeentie 13.
Acoustic folk/pop. Korjaamo Culture
7 Jun. Reckless Love // Glam metal.
katu
4-6.
Tickets
?12/14.
Tickets ?12. www.kuudeslinja.com
Factory, Töölönkatu 51 B. Tickets
Virgin Oil CO., Mannerheimintie 5.
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
28
May. Pink (USA) // Grammy?5/7. www.korjaamo.fi
Tickets ?12. www.virginoil.fi
21 ? 27 FEBRUARY
2013
23 May. Timi Lexikon // Rap. Le
winning pop star. Hartwall Areena,
31 May. Full House Records 15 Years
7 Jun. Tavastian Kesäklubi // Satellite
bonk, Yrjönkatu 24. Tickets ?8.
Areenankuja 1. Tickets ?69.
// Bolt, One Hidden Frame, SMC
Stories & Sans Parade live. Tavastia,
www.lebonk.fi
www.hartwall-areena.com
Lähiörotat, Ratface, Cutdown, St. Hood,
Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6. Tickets
23 May. Q & A // Acoustic folk.
28 May. Todd Rundgren (USA) // Rock
Kill The Curse & Foreseen. Tavastia &
?12/14. www.tavastiaklubi.fi
Semifinal, Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6.
legend and multi-instrumentalist.
Semifinal, Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6.
8 Jun. Shipyard Club?s 1 Year Party //
Tickets ?5. www.semifinal.fi
Tavastia, Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6.
Tickets ?10/12. www.tavastiaklubi.fi
The Knockouts (SWE), Relentless &
24 May. Hola Ghost (DNK) // Rock.
Tickets ?38/41. www.tavastiaklubi.fi
31 May. Arttu Wiskari // Rock. Le
Flesh Roxon. Nosturi, Telakkakatu 8.
Bar Loose, Annankatu 21. Tickets
28 May. Lucinda Williams (USA) //
bonk, Yrjönkatu 24. Tickets ?10/12.
Tickets ?15. www.elmu.fi
?7/9. www.barloose.com
Americana & folk rock.
Finlandia
www.lebonk.fi
8 Jun. Esben and the Witch (UK)
24 May. Astrid Swan & Aino Venna //
Hall, Mannerheimintie 13. Tickets
1 Jun. Poets of the Fall // Rock. Virgin
// Gothic rock/post punk/electronic.
Impressive female singer-songwriters.
Kuudes Linja, Hämeentie 13.
?47.50/57.50/72.50. www.finlandiatalo.fi
Oil Co., Mannerheimintie 5. Tickets
Sello Hall, Soittoniekanaukio 1A.
Tickets ?12. www.kuudeslinja.com
28 May. Aria (RUS) // Heavy metal.
?15/17. www.virginoil.fi
Tickets ?17.50/18. www.sellosali.fi
8 Jun. BoomBox // Rap festival. Suvilahti.
Virgin Oil Co., Mannerheimintie 5.
1 Jun. Samuli Putro // Pop. Tavastia,
24 May. Anssi Kela // Pop. Virgin
Tickets ?25. www.boombox.fi
Tickets ?25/29. www.virginoil.fi
Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6. Tickets
Oil Co., Mannerheimintie 5. Tickets
8 Jun. We Love Helsinki Kesätanssit
28 May. Club Acoustic Tuesday
?18/20. www.tavastiaklubi.fi
?12/15. www.virginoil.fi
// Flowery dresses and summer
//
Narva
Falls
live.
Mbar,
1 Jun. Jamaican Culture Event // Music,
24 May. Dave Lindholm & Puppa J
moods. Korjaamo Culture Factory,
Mannerheimintie 22-24. Free entry.
food and dancing in Jamaican style.
Not every Finnish girl dreams of living in Ethiopia, Tunisia, Benin and Nigeria, but after a childhood
Folkstep Quartet // Surprising gig
Töölönkatu 51 B. Tickets ?10/12.
www.mbar.fi
Dubrovnik, Eerikinkatu 11. Tickets
growing up in Lagos and a career spent working for the African Development Bank and World Food Prowith two brilliant musicians. Le
www.korjaamo.fi
29 May. Viktor & The Blood (SWE) //
?18/22. www.andorra.fi
gramme, Johanna Maula got to crisscross Africa and the world ? with occasional periods in Finland in
bonk, Yrjönkatu 24. Tickets ?12.
8 Jun. Stella, Matti Johannes Koivu
Rock/pop. Semifinal, Urho Kekkosen
1 Jun. Atom Mouth Gimlies, Final
between.
the publication
of her memoir,
Jasmine
Years,
David Brown
down
for a chat
with Factory,
her.
www.lebonk.fi
// sat
Pop.
Korjaamo
Culture
katu
4-6. On
Tickets
?7/8. www.
Assault, My
Mustat
Kalsarit
// Hardcore.
24 May. From Stable // Garage rock.
Töölönkatu 51 B. Tickets ?14/16.
semifinal.fi
Bar Loose, Annankatu 21. Tickets
Semifinal, Urho Kekkosen katu 4-6.
www.korjaamo.fi
29 May. Club Pitkä Kuuma Kesä
?6/8. www.barloose.com
Tickets ?6/7. www.semifinal.fi
8 Jun. Club We Jazz // Kari Ikonen
// Gracias & Tuuttimörkö. Mbar,
1 Jun. Mixxed presents: Season
you see,
it?s //
everything
hefeat.
got Verneri
quite fed
up with
24 May. Jaakko Laitinen & Väärä Raha
Trio
Pohjola.
Kuudes
Mannerheimintie 22-24. Free entry.
Opening
Party
David West that
(SWE) er
you
experience:
the
heat, the
the Hämeentie
travelling,
and
didn?t
+ Lada Nuevo // Finnish tango, Balkan
Linja,
13.
Tickets
?12.
www.mbar.fi
&
Orkidea.
Le bonk,
Yrjönkatu
24. all
humidity,
the colour of
want
to move to any more
www.kuudeslinja.com
rhythms etc. Kuudes Linja, Hämeentie
29 May. An evening with Emmylou
Tickets
?10. even
www.lebonk.fi
the
earth
and
sky.
had //to
respect
10 Jun. Rush I(CAN)
Legendary
rock.
13. Tickets ?10. www.kuudeslinja.com
Harris and Rodney Crowell //
3
Jun.
Kurt
Vile
& The Violators countries.
so Arena,
we are
here now,
24-26 May. Wildlife Helsinki // Urban
Hartwall
Areenankuja
1.but
Tickets
Country
legends.
Finlandia
(USA) // Rock. Tavastia, Urho that,
How
did you
?rst come
to Hall,
wonder
why there were 13.
so
As a white
living
in
I ?85.
hope
that as an adult he will
www.hartwall-areena.com
festival
dedicated
to alternative
rhythm
Mannerheimintie
Kekkosen
katuperson
4-6. Tickets
?25/27.
in Africa?
many beggars
in
Africa,
but
Africa, did you ever experilook
back
on
it andplaying
?nd that
it
12 Jun.
Peter
Murphy
Bauhaus
andlive
electronic
music and street arts.
Tickets
?62.50
/72.50
/82.50.
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
My venues.
father www.wildlife.fi
got a job lecturing www.finlandiatalo.fi
not in Finland. And it was inence
been
great
for him.
(UK)
// ?In
Celebration
of the 35th
Various
4
Jun. racism
3 Doors yourself?
Down (USA) // Rock. has
25 at
May.
May. Toot that
toot //I Rock.
Le bonk,
The
Factory,
Tallberginkatu
the Rockabilly
UniversityHeavyweight
of Lagos in 29
teresting
noticed
my
No, Cable
never.
And perhaps
this 1. Anniversary of Bauhaus?. Tavastia,
Urho
Kekkosen
4-6.
Tickets
Tournament
The Blue
Cats (UK),
24. Tickets
?5. www.lebonk.fi
Tickets
?46.
www.kaapelitehdas.fi
Nigeria,// from
1968-1970.
It Yrjönkatu
son going
through
the same
has also
been
a motivating
The
images
we katu
see of
Africa
?25/27.
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
Robert
(USA) with Red
Hot
29
May. Kakka-Hätä
77 in
// EthiPunk.
5
Jun. for
Jessica
// Pop
rock. on
wasGordon
an overwhelming
expeprocess
when we lived
factor
me, Wolff
because
I have
TV always
seem to be war
13 Jun.
Kalle How
Ahola,
Mikki
Kauste
(FIN)
and Matchbox
(UK).
Virgin
Kekkosen of
katu
4-6.
Tavastia,
Urhovery
Kekkosen
katu in
4-6. and
rience,
because at
that
time Tavastia,
opia ? Urho
this process
trying
always felt
welcome
poverty.
do
you feel
//
Pop/rock.
Tavastia,
Urho
Oil Finland
Co., Mannerheimintie
Tickets
Tickets
?10/12.
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
Tickets
?10/12. www.tavastiaklubi.fi about
was such a5.
different
to make
sense
of those differAfrica.
that?
Kekkosen
katu about
4-6. Tickets
?14/16.
?29/33.
www.virginoil.fi
May. Sarah
Kivi & Non-Orchestra
5 Jun. Club We Jazz // Aki Rissanen We
country
from what it is to- 29
ences.
Undoubtedly
one of the
only hear
war and
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
25 May.
ja Ville
Ahonen,
Pimeys
// reasons
Co-project
of I singer
Sarah
Kivi
Trio
& Mopo.
Eerikinkatu
day. Minä
It was
such
a contrast
why
became
a social
And
how Dubrovnik,
about the
othfamine,
and those issues are
13 Jun. Hyvä Klubi!
The Stockers
// Folk/pop/rock.
Korjaamo
Culture
producer
Non
Person. I Kuudes
www.andorra.fi
from the cold
and dark
Finn- and
scientist
was
because
want- 11.
er Tickets
white ?19.
people
you lived
important,
but //countries
& Pertti
Kurikan
Nimipäivät
Factory,
Töölönkatu
51
B. Tickets
13.
Tickets
?7.
6
Jun. Jex Thoth
(USA)
// Psychedelic
ish winter
to go
straight
to a Linja,
ed toHämeentie
understand
more
about
around?
What
were
their atlike
Finland
have never
real-live.
Le
bonk, Yrjönkatu
24.
Free is
entry.
?10/12.
www.korjaamo.fi
rock
/doom.
Kuudes
Linja, ly
hot and
dusty city with sev- www.kuudeslinja.com
different cultures.
titudes
towards
Africa and
understood
that
Africa
www.lebonk.fi
25 eral
May.million
The Best
of Afrobeats //
30 May. Faarao Pirttikangas &
Hämeentie
people.
Africans? 13. Tickets ?18/22. changing
very rapidly. There
14 Jun. A$AP Rocky (USA), A$AP
Warm rhythms from dancehall to
Kuhmalahden Nubialaiset // Blues/
www.kuudeslinja.com
What did it feel like
I think the worst I saw was in
is
a sizable middle class in
Ferg (USA) // Rap. The Circus,
soca. Nosturi, Telakkakatu 8.
folk and rhythms from the Deep
6 Jun. Shine 2009, Burning Hearts
Growing up in Nigeria,
to come back to Finland?
Tanzania. There were a few
the
big cities, and now some
Salomonkatu 1-3. Tickets ?35/37.
Tickets ?10. www.elmu.fi
South. Le bonk, Yrjönkatu 24.
// Electro pop. Tavastia, Urho
did you miss Finland?
There were many things that
other Finns there, and I was
Finnish companies are startwww.thecircus.fi
25 May. Constables, Neat Neat //
Tickets ?5. www.lebonk.fi
Kekkosen katu 4-6. Tickets ?11/13.
As young children, my sis- 30
I May.
missed
from Africa. I was
sometimes appalled by the
ing
to wake up to the poten14 Jun. Roope Salminen & Koirat feat.
Indie rock/pop. Semifinal, Urho
Toro y Moi (USA) // Electro
www.tavastiaklubi.fi
ters and I adapted very eas- pop.
always
hoping that I would
way they talked about Afritial,
but they are a long way
Solonen & Kosola // Hip-hop. Virgin
Kekkosen katu 4-6. Tickets ?7/8.
Tavastia, Urho Kekkosen
6 Jun. Skid Row (USA) // Hard rock.
ily to our new life in Nigeria, katu
move4-6.
back Tickets
there. I ?23/25.
studcans, without
knowing much 5. behind
the rest of
EuOil CO., even
Mannerheimintie
5. Tickets
www.semifinal.fi
Virgin
Oil Co., Mannerheimintie
course
weFestival
missed www.tavastiaklubi.fi
rope.
Nokia
has been very ac?10/12.
www.virginoil.fi
25 although
& 26 May. of
World
Village
Tickets ?26. www.virginoil.fi
many things
Finland.
but The
you don?t
many
been
away
for
15 years,
was
now
in// tive,
14 Jun.
Splits, see
Death
Laser,
// Colourful
festivalfrom
with live
bands I 30I?d
May.
Club Jazziest
// Jimi
Tenor
6 Jun. and
Get Me,
Berlin
Nun
had
to (CHN),
bring my
best live. Mbar, Mannerheimintie 22-24. Promising soul/funk/pop bands. other
companies
Hunters
// Garagethere.
rock/punk. Bar
such
aswanted
Hanggai
PMMP
East
Africa
for
the
first
time,
but
my
childfriend
with
me
to
Africa,
and
It?s
also
interesting
when
Loose, Annankatu 21. Tickets ?6/8.
and Charmaine Clamor (PHI/USA).
Free entry. www.mbar.fi
Le bonk, Yrjönkatu 24. Tickets ?5.
memories
came back
to me so strong- we
was very
upset
whenwww.
this 30hood
think of aid. Some Peruswww.barloose.com
Kaisaniemi
Park.
Free entry.
May. Epica
(NLD) // Metal. Nosturi,
www.lebonk.fi
wasn?t allowed! And at that Telakkakatu
have
14 Jun. Color politicians
Dolor // Experimental
maailmakylassa.fi
8. Tickets
?25-50.
6 Jun.
Aiyekooto
(NGR) of
& Afrobeat
ly: the sights
and
sounds,
the
feeling
sun suomalaiset
the differences
were
so www.elmu.fi
that Finland
gives
a
pop. Korjaamo
Culture
Factory,
26 time
May. Suffocation
(USA) //
Death
International , Zoumana Dembélé claimed
skin.
big ?
there was
no email 8.
or 30on
of aid money
to Africa,
Töölönkatu
51 B.
Tickets but
?8/10.
metal.
Nosturi,
Telakkakatu
May.my
Svart Night
#4 // Abhorrence &
(BUR) & Mande Maja Band feat. lot
texting
Skype, of course, Deathchain. Bar Loose, Annankatu 21. Abdoulaye Condé (GUI) & Maarika that
is not really so. Ethiopia
www.korjaamo.fi
Tickets
?20. or
www.elmu.fi
Music _ Clubs
2
Nicole_Nodland
Q&A
Out of Africa
and even making a phone call
was very dif?cult and very
expensive. So the distances
felt very big, and you couldn?t
just call or go back for short
visits.
ied here, but I always knew
that I would go back, and
then when I was 26 I got the
chance to go to Tanzania and
carry out research for my
doctoral dissertation there.
I?d been away for 15 years,
and was now in East Africa for the ?rst time, but my
childhood memories came
back to me so strongly: the
sights and sounds, the feeling of sun on my skin. Africa
is such an overwhelming experience. It is not only what
b-d
e
s
n
e
c
i
l
riving
h
s
i
l
Eng
But was it a good experience
for a young Finnish girl?
It was wonderful ? I have
told my parents since that it
was the best decision they
ever made as parents! I experienced many totally new
things, and really started to
in
about the history or culture.
Maybe people from other
countries were just as bad,
but the Finns were so blunt
? especially when they were
drunk.
How did your son feel about
growing up in Ethiopia and
Tunisia?
He?d lived in ?ve different
countries by the time he was
12. He adapted very well to
our life in Ethiopia when he
was small, but as a teenag-
16 Jun. Lana Del Rey (USA) // Hartwall Arena, Areenankuja 1. Tickets
?45/55/65. www.hartwall-areena.com
Young and Beautiful
of Islamic extremism ? what
so much easier!? but really it
are your
thoughts
that?
the people thatwith
I miss
when
Lana
Del Rey,on
the
American is
singer-songwriter
a captivatOf course
there are elements
I?m
away. On
the other
ing, lounge-singer-styled
voice,
sensuous
singing
style hand,
and gorwe should
concerned
aboutat Hartwall
living outside
your
own 16
coungeousbe
looks,
will perform
Arena on
Sunday
June.
? like Al Qaeda. But when I
try, you also learn to apprecias ?a
Nancy
Sinatra?,
Del Rey is
thinkDescribed
of Tunisia,
theself-styled
people gangsta
ate things
like
the education
known
her were
cinematic
and atmospheric
Americana-influenced
that I
knewfor
there
mainand healthcare
systems, the
ly very
moderate and tolerant.
status of women and the sopop.
Many have
family
in Europe,
cial
welfare
In 2009,
before
emerging with
the
stage system.
name Lana Del Rey,
and they
familiar
the
always
hoping
thatLizzy
I
she are
released
the with
single
Kill, Kill I?m
under
her given
name,
Western
way
of significant
life. It?s hard
can settle
morewhen
permanentGrant.
Her
breakthrough
occurred
the music
to imagine
that
majority
ly in appeared
Africa, and
perhaps
afvideo for
thethe
single
Video Games
online
in summer
could ever become extremists.
ter my son graduates I?ll look
2011.
The debut
album
Born into
To Die
(2012)
with few songs like
The
biggest
problem
evethat
again.
flashes
David
Lynch?s
rywhere
is from
young
men,
who films, reached number one in several
countries
and was soon
followed
by a do
mini-album
titled
Paradise.
are often
well-educated
but
What
you think
Finland
Recently
Del
Rey has been could
working
on from
her third
album, recan?t ?
nd work.
Particularly
learn
Africa?
leased the
new single
Young and
Beautiful
(a kickoff
single
in countries
where
they can
Their
attitude
towards
lifefor
clearly
see
the
corruption
and and
and
friendliness.
We
the
film
The
Great Gatsby)
wontheir
the award
for International
the wealth
being
controlled
? myself included ? so
Female Solo
Artist
at the 2013 Finns
BRIT Awards.
by one family or clan, as hapoften seem to get upset about
pened with Ben Ali in Tunisia.
little things: neighbours leaving Metal
things
in the
laundry
or
core.
Nosturi,
Telakkakatu
8.
14 Jun. Holly Herndon (USA) //
How
did you come
something.
In Africa
I so often
Tickets ?18.
www.elmu.fi
Experimental electronic. Kaiku,
to Kaikukatu
write the
book?
had such great neighbours; so
4.
Tickets ?12.
I think
I?ve
always
wanted
to CO.,
kind, and helping
us in many
Theatre
_ Dance
15 Jun.
PMMP
// Pop.
Virgin Oil
tell
people about Africa,
ev- ?17.
ways. There is something
Mannerheimintie
5. Tickets
er www.virginoil.fi
since my childhood. It?s
from
usMay.
all to
learn
from that.
23
Tero
Saarinen
Company:
been
a dream
that
I?ve always
the ?exibility
15 Jun.
Samae
Koskisen
KorvalääkeAndAbsent
Presence of
/ people,
Hunt // Two
had.
There are musician
so manyand
misthe contemporary
way they can dance
?nd humour
// Interesting
singerpieces from
conceptions,
because
show talented
generosity choreographer.
even in
songwriter. Tavastia,
Urho peoKekkosenandthe
ple
have
so little
real
contactwww.
very
modest
circumstances.
katu
4-6.
Tickets
?12/14.
Finnish
National
Theatre, Läntinen
with
Africa. Of course people
tavastiaklubi.fi
Teatterikuja 1. Tickets ?15-45.
have
heard
of Kenya
and Tanwhat is next for
19 Jun.
Devil
Wears Prada
(USA) //And
www.kansallisteatteri.fi
is said to be one of our major
zania, but they know very lityou after The Jasmine Years?
?partner countries?, but I once
tle about French-speaking
I?ve already started writing
saw a list of international doAfrica and North Africa. So
my next book, about great
nors to Ethiopia, and Finland
far the only comments have
Ethiopian women from the
did not even make the Top 15!
been positive, which is lovely.
Queen of Sheba through to
People perhaps don?t realmodern businesswomen. Inise that every African country
Where is home for you?
creasingly, women there are
has its own character. Even
Even living away from Finbecoming entrepreneurs and
internally, there can be huge
land so much I never realrole models, and it?s an interdifferences within the counly miss the
country as such.
esting contrast from the imwww.autokoulusafiiri.fi
tries, with dozens of different
It?s people you miss; family
ages of poverty and ?ghting.
languages and cultures.
and friends. Of course in AfSo my next trip to Africa will
rica
the
bureaucracy
can
be
be to Ethiopia,
but
this time
For more
information by phone
020 766
9171
There?s been a lot of talk reso frustrating that I think
to interview people for the
cently about Mali and the rise
?Oh, in Finland
this would be
next book.
or email
matinkyla@autokoulusafiiri.fi
atink
m
n
i
s
t
r
rse sta
u
o
c
t
x
ne
at sa
HELSINKI TIMES
ylä
2013
.
3
.
9
y
turda
You?ll love
the way we print it
www.iprint.fi