Finnair lounge: Sauna with a view of the runway

Finns enjoy a sweat bath and sauna people like to have a sauna in every possible place: Now Finnish aircraft company Finnair will open a luxurious Spa and Wellness centre in autumn 2009 adjacent to its new via.Helsinki Lounge in the Helsinki Airport terminal extension. The facilities include ie. a sauna with a view of the runway.

Other crazy places for sauna are:

• Cabinet sauna inside the Hartwall arena (watch a live ice-hockey game while you sweat in sauna),
  
• Fin-Duck is a boat, a sauna, a duck, a summer cottage powered by an outboard motor
• Saunabus is a steaming design exhibition on the road,
• Own Sauna island,
• Sports Academy's sauna is situated in the middle of the sports bar behind a one-way window - where you can see but can't be seen

Fennofolk – New Nordic Oddity 11.6.-28.9.2008

Design Museum's main exhibition in the summer of 2008 will be Fennofolk – New Nordic Oddity, an analysis of Finnish culture from a new perspective. The exhibition and its catalogue will offer a broad overview of the fields of Finnish design and culture, dissolving boundaries and assembling the designers of today's young generation under a single theme. Over 100 of Finnish artists, creative persons, communities and organizations have been invited to participate.

Renewed Korjaamo is open!

Renewed Korjaamo Culture Factory is open; new stage for concerts & theater, 2 new gallery spaces, new cafe (open from 4th of July), even bigger terrace, Korjaamo shop and plus old spaces (bar, etc.). Korjaamo shop offers a good selection of translated Finnish literature, design gifts and bunch of Finnish alternative tunes. Shop reminds me of Kiasma and EMMA shops.

Helsinki Terazza - Rough Guide 2008

Terraces are a big plus, and Helsinkians are able to celebrate summer on a terrace; chill & grill your own food (Kuudes linja, Kaikukuja 4, open every day 17-00), inner yard patio & DJ (Grotesk, terrace, entrance from Erottajankatu), sofas & cool drinks (Olo terrace bar, Kasarmikatu 44, we-sat 17.00-24.00), best view and tourists (Torni Ateljee bar, Kalevankatu 5), island hopping (Valhalla & Valimo, Suomenlinna island).

More info: We are Helsinki - magazine (www.we-are.fi).

MoMa; Outstanding Short Films from International Festivals, 2008

MoMA's (The Museum of Modern Art) annual showcase (June 11–13, 2008) of recent narrative, documentary, animated, and experimental short films provides a glimpse into cinema's future. Most short films are produced by young filmmakers at the start of their careers; at their best, these works are characterized by youthful vigor and a daring willingness to break with cinematic convention.

There will be New York premiere for the secretly shot movie called:DMZ. Directed by Jouni Hokkanen and Simojukka Ruippo. A demilitarized zone marks the border between North and South Korea. What is life like north of the zone?

Hokkanen and Ruippo have been shooting dozens of internationally successful short films like Pyongyang Robogirl and Hong Kong Sars Blues.

ANTON CORBIJN - Retrospective 21.5.-31.8.2008

Since the 1970s, Anton Corbijn’s (1955, the Netherlands) photographs have shaped our image of many musicians and other artists. The ANTON CORBIJN - Retrospective (Tennis Palace Art Museum) presents Corbijn’s four key series of photographs from 1976 to 2002. In addition to photography, Anton Corbijn is known for his music videos and his award-winning film Control (2007).

Anton Corbijn began photographing at rock concerts and for music magazines in the 1970s. Since then he has broadened his range of subjects to other artists, including actors, film directors, painters and writers. Over the years, the documentary approach of his early photography has changed to more conceptual ones: first to well- considered portraits, then to staged paparazzi pictures. The most recent series seen in the exhibition consists of self-portraits.

Identity and roles are at the core of Anton Corbijn’s work. As U2’s Bono put it, “Anton doesn’t photograph who you are, he photographs who you might be.”

Open: Tue-Sun 11 a.m. – 8.30 p.m, Mon closed.
Address: Tennis Palace Art Museum, Salomonkatu 15 (near the Bus Station), 00100 Helsinki.

Young eyes of photo journalism: 30.5.-24.8.2008

The New Generation of Finnish photojournalism is here!

For the first time ever the new wave photojournalists are collected into one big exhibition at the Finnish museum of photography. It includes over 200 images from 44 photographers, and it tells a whole lot of stories from our time. The themes these great photographers work with varies from death sentence to birth, from politicians to sewers. Also the approach to the matter varies and personal touch can be seen in the different styles they represent.

Villa Urpo: luxurious villa on sale

Are you seeking a new holiday house? Now it's your chance.

Urpo Lahtinen was a Finnish magazine publisher who invested his huge profits to arts (Chagall, Picasso, etc.) and constructed his luxurious Villa Urpo.

Now Villa Urpo is on sale after the Foundation of the Urpo and Maija Lahtinen went to bankrupt. Attorneys at law Berglund Partners are now seeking the best offers. The value of Villa Urpo is being estimated around 4 million euros (source: Aamulehti).

SMALL LUXURY HOTELS OF THE WORLD BRAND ARRIVING IN FINLAND

Royal Restaurants has signed an agreement with the Small Luxury Hotels of the World brand concerning the Hotel Haven that will be completed in early 2009 at the address Unioninkatu 17; the hotel will be their first hotel in Finland.

According to the annual Luxury Brand Status Index survey carried out by New York-based Luxury Institute, SLH was named as the world’s leading luxury hotel brand, surpassing such traditionally respected brand as, among others, Ritz-Carlton and Peninsula.

According to Royal Restaurants, SLH’s slogan "Caring Luxury" sums up what the Hotel Haven offers its guests. First class service is backed up by high-quality ancillary services. Additionally, conference services, three meeting rooms and an auditorium facilitate the arrangement of meetings for 120 persons in connection with the hotel.

Flow08 line up released

Flow Festival, organised as part of the Helsinki Festival in Helsinki's Suvilahti on 15-17 August, brings together a wide array of internationally acclaimed artists. In addition, the event now presents an area three times larger as that of previous year's.

During its four years of existence Flow Festival, organised by the Nuspirit Helsinki collective, has succesfully showcased top-notch music from jazz to soul, indie to electro, techno to boogie and electronic to organic.

All in all Flow Festival presents 62 acts on 4 different stages during three days.

More info about the artists and Flow08 at: www.flowfestival.com