PUNAJUURI BLOCKPARTY
Photo: Lissu Moulton
During August, Helsinki has been filled with concerts, festival and events, even so many it’s difficult to keep track of them. But besides the more traditional and commercial events, last Saturday it was proved that the streets can come to life also just through contributions of friends and yet unknown neighbours, without money being an issue.
Saturday 21st August, a group of old friends organised a blockparty to celebrate the neighbourhood of Punavuori in downtown Helsinki. The Punajuuri (beetroot) Blockparty started from Viiskulma (the Five Corners) crossing and later moved two blocks southwest.
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NIGHT RIDERS’ CYCLE LANE
The night before yesterday, more than 250 cyclists together with the artist group Länsiväylä created an informal cycle lane in Helsinki. The crowd assembled at 01.30 Sunday night and drove through puddles of water soluble paint along Hämeentie, creating thin lines of green, red and white. The atmosphere was epic; only a little more paint would have been needed.
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GOOD MORNING AFRICA
Tuula Heiniä, from the series "Vodun-voodoo"
Grand-Popo is a small town on the Atlantic coast of Benin, in West Africa. The town consists mainly of one road that runs through a settlement of small houses, street kiosks, craftsmen’s workshops and restaurants. Roughly ten years ago, Finnish writer Juha Vakkuri fell in love with the town’s atmosphere, and established the Finnish-African cultural centre Villa Karo, in an old colonial villa. Over the past 10 years, Villa Karo has served as a residence for almost 300 Finnish artists, who have found different ways to collaborate with the local cultures and people, be it drum musicians or local textile artisans. Kunsthalle Helsinki now celebrates the anniversary with an extensive exhibition Good Morning Africa, exploring the impact of the residence and life in Benin on Finnish residency artists and their work.
WINDY DAY AT THE HARBOUR
The new Kalasatama shore route was opened on Helsinki day, 12 June, accompanied with the sounds of wind and storm. The brave ones who made their way to the harbour despite the challenging weather, got to admire the views and participate in lot of different activities along the route: dancing, theater, bicycle workshop, outdoor live chess, children’s building workshop, animation container, urban farms and a lot more.
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