16.5–31.7.2012
HANS von SCHANTZ: ENTER HELSINKI
 Hans von Schantz: Asematunneli (2009)
In these photographs the night encircles, isolates and simplifies the views. At the centre of observation are the anonymous architecture of the everyday and chance encounters with people. Helsinki becomes a mythical non-place.
In this summer’s main exhibition, ENTER HELSINKI, the photographic artist Hans von Schantz (b. 1961) takes us on a previously unseen descent into the reverse side of the day. The route followed by the pictures takes us from the city’s periphery towards its centre, through a rubbish dump, waste ground, industrial areas and slumbering suburbs.
 Hans von Schantz: Keskuskatu (2008)
The objects of the artist’s interest are not universally recognizable landmarks. Rather, the point is to see a landscape or structure as an expression of a state of mind and to sense the atmosphere radiated by a scene and its human presence as we pass from one zone to another.
In these stunning works Schantz, who is known as a master photograph printer, combines staged settings with authentic shots. The most recent pictures in the exhibition, produced in the 2000s, have their own subtle world of tone and colour. This is accentuated by the superb black-and-whiteness of the exhibition’s older, urban documentary shots from the 1980s and ’90s.
 Hans von Schantz: Helsinki (1989)
“What interests me about photography is the relationship between the camera and time – the way that a slice of time taken out of its context has undergone a transformation while being suspended. I very rarely direct or set up photographing situations, in that sense I am a documentarist. I look for surprises brought about by the absence of control.”
Meet the Artist: Hans von Schantz talks about his exhibition (in Finnish) on Wednesday 13.6. at 18:00. Museum entrance fee.
16.5–31.7.2012
50+ THE FINNISH MAN – A PORTRAIT
Riitta Supperi
Riitta Supperi: Hannu Supperi, 59, Rautalampi
What do men in their fifties think? What are their hopes and dreams, and do they come true in the Finland of the 2000s?
Riitta Supperi’s (b. 1974) 50+ series of portraits talks about Finnish men in an understated, respectful way. Ninety five ‘milieu portraits’ taken around the country deal with the lives of ‘ordinary’ 50–59-year-old men and with turning points in those lives.
 Riitta Supperi: Risto Voutilainen, 59, Kuopio
“I investigated a group of Finns that is hardly visible in the media. The fifty-year-old man has been forgotten by the magazine world, where ecstatic women get to celebrate their second youth. Fifty-year-old men only make it onto the pages of newspapers in opinion polls. Although fifty-year-old politicians and company directors are more prominent.”
Supperi began the series by photographing her own father. “When taking the pictures, I thought about what his life is really like and what will it be like when he is facing retirement. I thought about why my father had become the way he is. Did his dreams come true, had his life been successful up to that point? Would he in the future face Finnish men’s problems, such as social exclusion or alcoholism, or would he enter a serene old age, or even a second youth?”
 Riitta Supperi: Seppo Salmela, 53, Kustavi
Meet the Artist: Riitta Supperi talks about her exhibition (in Finnish) on Friday 23. 3. at 18:00 and on Wednesday 6.6. at 18:00. Museum entrance fee.
PROJECT SPACE
Octavian Bâlea: Flexi-in-security Redux
24.2.–25.3.2012
This series of documentary photographs investigates what happens to the local community in a town in Germany, from where the jobs provided by the Nokia factory disappear, and in another place in Romania, where a new factory is set up.
 Octavian Bâlea: Coffee with Ahmed
Meet the Artist (in English): Sunday 11.3. at 14-15. Museum entrance fee.
Kollective: Preview 5
30.3.–29.4.2012
A new photographers’ group portraying a variety of viewpoints is presenting itself to the public. The exhibition is an investigation of urban culture.
 Saku Soukka: White Cover (2010)
Meet the artists: Sunday 15.4. at 14-15. Museum entrance fee.
Aida Chehrehgosha: To mom, dad and my two brothers
4.5.–3.6.2012
The Swedish artist photographs her family in brutally personal shots, in which the traumas of childhood are acted out.
 Aida Chehrehgosha: Dead parents, Chapter III (2008)
PROCESS SPACE
East–West battle
24.2.–25.3.2012
How equal does Helsinki look? Is it obvious that people in Kuusisaari and Lehtisaari earn eight times more than people in Kivikko? Is Pitkäsilta Bridge still the great diving line between Helsinki-ites? The Photo Do organization’s members’ workshop aims to find out by taking photographs and spending an evening battling it out.
Meet the Artists: Wed 21.3 at 18-19. Free entrance.
Young Helsinki
30.3.–29.4.2012
What does Helsinki look and sound like when photographed by children and young people? The exhibition shows photographs and videos made during Nuori Helsinki (Young Helsinki) workshops.
 Jeanette Järvenpää, Tölö Specialserings gymnasium (2011)
Meet the Artists: Wed 18.4. at 18-19. Free entrance.
Significant places
4.5.–27.5.2012
The Significant placesexhibition tells how women who have moved to Finland from different parts of the world live in the Helsinki metropolitan region. Taking photographs got the women interested in observing their environment, in sharing their experiences, and in communicating in Finnish, in their own native tongue, and also without words. The exhibition has been produced by the Helinä Rautavaara Museum.
 Nina-Maria Oförsagd: Group photo at Trapesa (2011)
Meet the Artist: Sun 27.5. at 14-15. Free entrance.
|
