Arts & culture

Finnish photographer Meeri Koutaniemi goes to the source

Wherever she roams, award-winning photographer Meeri Koutaniemi draws strength from Finnish nature – and never stops looking for that perfect tree to climb. Our article includes a small selection of her impressive photography.

Arts & culture Climate

Live gigs with fewer climate worries: Finland’s music industry has a plan

When you’re out with friends at a concert or festival, you’d probably rather not worry about the event’s greenhouse gas emissions. What if it was carefully planned to minimise emissions, or even certified as carbon-neutral?

Arts & culture Film

In northern Finland, three unconventional Sámi artists talk about culture and craft

A documentary directed by Auri Ahola traces the career trajectories of three unusual Sámi artists as they discuss their connections to Sámi culture and the landscape of the far north. The film is embedded in our article for you to watch.

Restaurant Day

A Finnish invention allowing anyone to set up a restaurant for a day

Arts & culture Music

Hold on to summer: Sunny Flow Fest memories in Helsinki last through the autumn and beyond

Flow Festival is an extravaganza, the highlight of the summer for multitudes of music fans in Finland. With interviews and a photo show, we attempt to bottle its essence so we can make the summer last longer, even as autumn is increasingly in the air.

Arts & culture Film

Radical liberty: Finnish director Alli Haapasalo’s movie Girl Picture lets girls be girls

In Girl Picture, three teenage girls say and do what they want – without suffering any retribution. While directing the film, Alli Haapasalo realised how incredibly rare that kind of freedom is in movie plots. We talk with her about making films in Finland.

1987

The year Design Forum Finland started promoting Finnish design

Arts & culture Visual arts

Island and mainland: At Helsinki Biennial, art inspires viewers and makes summer linger longer

We jump on a ferry to the lush island of Vallisaari to visit the 2023 Helsinki Biennial and meet a couple of the artists. (Lots more photos in the slideshow at the end of the article.)

Arts & culture Music

Music in the Finnish capital: The Flow must go on

Finland loves summer festivals; there’s at least one in almost every city and town. Flow Festival, a massive music event held in Helsinki in early August, is the urban festival.

Arts & culture Visual arts

Amos Rex’s Generation triennial spotlights talented young artists in Finland

In the Generation 2023 exhibition at Helsinki’s Amos Rex, 15-to-23-year-old artists display images of themselves and the world around us. What are they trying to tell the viewers? We check out the show.

1970

The year Ruisrock, Finland's oldest (and Europe's second-oldest) rock fest, was founded