The last three days have been a day of complete mix of emotions, one minute I didn’t want to say goodbye to Helsinki but the next I was crying to an open packet of biscuits because they’re my little sisters’ favourite and she’s always bringing them home from the shop after school. On Thursday I think we all spent most of the day buying fridge magnets, key rings and chocolate for everyone back home. Jackie arranged for us to meet with her friend who’s an established artist in Helsinki named Ollie we had dinner that Jackie kindly made for us and sat for hours talking about art in Finland and Finnish Culture. It was amazing to have a detailed conversation with a Finnish person, so we could get an insight into the Finnish culture and what it means for a Finnish person personally. He talked about how traditional the sauna was to them and the reasons why they go nude and not think twice about it, because it was how the Finnish are brought up. At the end of the night he took out personal notebook and handed us a pen and told us to draw a picture each, so he’d have memory of this night visually.
On Friday Renske and I went to Loyly to meet Jackie to sit out in the sun looking out at the Baltic sea, after we walked up to get the number one tram into the city centre. I went to Amos Rex to look at the Rene Magritte once more, I enjoyed it just as much as the first time I’d seen it. I was really intrigued by the green apple in ‘The Listening Room’ and when I got back to the apartment, I’d realised I’d seen the apple before, in Magritte’s ‘The Son of Man’ painting, only I hadn’t realised it was by the same painter. I really wanted to buy the book that they had but It was too bulky and heavy to bring home, so I ordered it of amazon and it should be at my house by Thursday. We met one of Renske’s friend’s daughters Celine from back in Ireland who’s studying print in the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki, she kindly offered to show us around the college and show us some studio spaces within the college. We saw the print department, painting department, time and space department and sculpture department, so there was something for all of us. It was interesting to see other students work spaces and get an idea to what it would be like to study in the college. After meeting with Celine and we met with the guys from Raahe and we brought them back to our apartment to chat about our experiences. Today has been an extremely long day, we woke and cleaned the apartment and packed our suitcases. I headed into town shortly after to sit in espresso house and do some work and then I went to the Ateneum once more to look at Kupka’s exhibition,I’d fallen in love with his work earlier that week and had to see the work once last time before leaving. His work made me realise how much I’m drawn to colours and how much I love paint. and We met Matthew at Loyly to go for a sauna later in the day, but it was all booked out until 11.00pm so we headed across town to Allas to try and get in. Luckily, we got in and it was amazing, we went from the sauna to the Baltic sea to the warm pool and then back up to the sauna. We all went for one last meal together over in Kallio and plates were well and truly emptied. We came back, shoved the last few things into our suitcases and after my slight panic of wondering if my suitcase is going to be over the weight limit, by the looks of things we’ve all relaxed, Renske’s in bed, Sean’s lying on his bed with his coat, Jackie and Liam are asleep on the coach with a blanket over them and I’m sitting here on the floor with a cup of tea telling myself to go to bed. Helsinki has been absolutely incredible to say the least, I’ve loved every moment of it and to make the experience even better the five of us have gotten on really well, spending most of the time laughing and winding each other up. I don’t know about them but I’m going to miss not sitting down at the table having dinner together and eating dinner asking each other what we got up to or sitting in the sitting room at the end of the day with our sketchbooks, endless amounts of tea and every now and then someone will either say ‘who has the scissors?’ or ‘anyone know where the glue is’ or ‘anyone for tea?’ Thanks to GTI & Leargas for this experience... -Sophie
0 Comments
Just a few more days before our time in Helsinki is over and I have to say that it flew by. It has been such a great opportunity and I feel that I have learned more about art and what it really is than I ever have. There has been times when I felt overloaded with information but I know that when back in Galway I'll be dying to go to more galleries.
Also living with a group of people I didn't know that well in a country I wasn't familiar with has been a good experience, I feel I've learned what works for me, and how to use google maps!! These last few days have consisted of revisiting places, having a better look at things that interested me before and trying to summarise things in my sketchbook, and seeing how to move on with it my studio practice. On Monday most galleries in Helsinki are closed, except for the Magritte exhibition in Amos Rex, so I went in there because I hadn't seen everything yet, especially the video which was recommended to me. This exhibition has been really busy from its opening day so you need a lot of patience going in there. In the evening there was a silent movie in the same building, Bio Rex it's called (the building). The movie was an inspiration for Magritte, it was called Fantômas III, The murdering corpse. Yesterday the weather was so lovely that myself and Jackie decided to go to Lapinlahden Lähde, an old psychiatric hospital now turned gallery and space for workshops. The building was quite eerie and very like a hospital still but the grounds were beautiful so we looked at the exhibition and did some sketching on the grounds. I also went to Annantalo, a children's art space and gallery. They had amazing facilities, it would be great to see Ireland use its old buildings for art the way they do in Finland. It gave me inspiration for the children's workshops and community art I'm involved in back in Oughterard. Today I went to Luomos, the Finnish national history museum to do some sketching and Kiasma, to do some interactive art in 'The stage is yours', with Jackie and Liam, which was good fun and interesting to see that kind of art and how it works, also in light of community art. The Ateneum was opened late this evening so I went to see the new exhibition by the Czech painter Kupka, an amazing painter that I didn't know much about, so very informative. These last few days are very busy because we are trying to fit in as much as possible before we have to leave, there is still so much to be seen. -Renske This evening we are sitting in the ferry terminal in Tallin on our way back to Helsinki. We arrived here yesterday in at 7.30 am and watched the sunrise over the calm Baltic sea. We made our way to the ancient medieval old town to the quaint backpackers hostel and after a brief rest we made our way to the old school tram to the amazing Kumo gallery. This was such an amazing place, the history of Estonian art from 1800 to present day on display, and another exhibition by the Estonian post expressionist artist Konrad Magi. There was also a permanent exhibition about the Soviet Union and a conceptual floor where sound and art were explored. We were exhausted as we made our way back to the cozy hostel and had some nice local food in a cafe near by. On Mondays all galleries and museums are closed so we explored the town and and are now on our way back to Finland exhausted.
I can honestly say we have walked thousands of steps every day visiting galleries, we are getting quite familiar with the area and are branching off a bit on our own journeys as we find paths in what we are interested in, in relation to our studio practice. We are living quite harmoniously in our cozy apartment, cooking communally and keeping the house quite well. Every evening we work on our journals and try to process what we are seeing each day. The weather is now really lovely, blue skies and clear air makes it fabulous to be out and about. We know the city now and the efficient tram system is at our doorstep however I like to walk when it's so clear and bright and see what I find on the way. The other four went ice skating on Saturday but I stayed away knowing I would break both legs if I tried again! We are learning that you really have to pace ourselves in the galleries and museums. They are all huge buildings with numerous exhibitions and most of us had to return more than once to get around them all. We have been to some local graduate exhibitions too, and there are many more in the smaller galleries. It's interesting to see the standards, styles and approaches of the artists currently exhibiting . We are almost half way through our journey so it's time to start deciding where to take all we have seen and learned, what has inspired us and where to go next in our work. There is still time to see new things but we realise it is not possible to see everything, quality over quantity and developing our ideas from inspiring places. Now we will continue to work on our journals and see where this journey and this amazing experience takes us. Thank you Erasmus, Leargas and all the amazing GTI staff for making it possible. - Jackie Our day started quite slow today, we all had stayed up late working last night and were absolutely wreaked this morning, so we all agreed to start off slow and pace ourselves. Jackie was brave enough to venture to the shops to get the makings of a breakfast for all of us while I tidied the sitting room after bits of paper, pens, markers, paints and endless amount of mugs for tea’s and coffee’s were left as we headed to bed. Jackie finished cooking breakfast and once again we all sat round the table teasing and chatting to each other. We then went back to work on our notebooks for a short while until we decided we needed some fresh air. Jackie, Renske and I decided we were going to go see the René Magritte exhibition in the Amos Rex museum . We put on our boots, coats, hats and gloves and headed towards the 6T tram. We were no length waiting and the tram came around the corner, on the way we spoke about the exhibition and how we didn’t know what to expect as we had never heard of René Magritte but we were also excited about going into the unknown and maybe seeing something complete different to the rest of the work that we’d seen during the week.
We got off the tram and walked to the Amos Rex, a few minutes up the road. Straight away we thought the building looked like an old 50’s dinner from America, like the one from Grease. We went in, showed our museum cards to the receptionist and she handed each of us a blue circular sticker with a white X going through it. We went down the stair way to be greeted by a massive, bright room – almost like a large lobby. We went to our lockers to store our bags and coats and headed into the exhibition. As we walked in it was completely full of people trying to poke their heads around each other to get a glimpse of the art work, luckily after five or ten minutes in got a bit quitter and people had moved on so it meant we could see the artwork a little better. A few pieces really stood out to me while others, I found slightly boring but that’s just my own personal preference and everyone has different opinions. The ones that stood out to be left me in complete amazement and I fell in love with them instantly, like ‘La Bonne Parole’ (Words of Wisdom), ‘L’Embellie (The Break in the Clouds) and ‘Sketch of Advert for Belga Cigarettes – 1935’ and that’s just to name a few. We all came out of the exhibition completely amazed and inspired in relation to our own practice. I felt as though I had been missing out on this amazing artist and I want to know everything about him, so I think I know what I’ll be doing for the night. -Sophie Today was Sarah's last day here and we decided to take a trip together to Espoo, where EMMA, the museum of modern art is. After a very slippery exit from the apartment, the path was like a skating rink, (which is something myself and Liam still didn't get to visit..), we got onto the tram with all our bones intact and met Sarah outside the very impressive metro station in Kamppi. Espoo was about 15 minutes away on the metro, a place with lovely big trees, buildings and snow.
The museum is located at the exhibition building WeeGee and also has the Espoo City Museum, the Finnish Toy museum, the Museum of horology and other cultural institutions. It was a big modern building with - as we have noticed in a lot of places - it's usual hang out and relax areas. The main exhibition running until July was by three leading contemporary painters, Jonathan Meese, Daniel Richter and Tal R. It was called 'The man who fell to earth', a referral to the 1976 cult film by Nicolas Roeg, starring David Bowie. The three painters share their observations on the sad state of the world through a veil of absurd humour. When I got into the exhibition there was a space with the strangest statues. These very brightly coloured typical commercial cartoon type figures mixed with natural stones, so surreal... Their paintings were also very brightly coloured, and I found it hard to get anything from them at first, but after some time and doing a bit of sketching they started to get some form. I definitely want to go back and do some more sketching and to watch the video with the artists talking. This placement is such an amazing opportunity to find out what appeals me in contemporary art and where I would see myself in relation to other artists. This is so important as a practising artist. Furthermore there was the permanent collection with some interesting art and another exhibition by Alicja Kwade. After a few hours we all had enough research and we made our way back to Helsinki, where we sadly had to say goodbye to Sarah, but only after we all got free shoe lights, free hugs and Sean a free hotdog from some political party! It was really nice to have Sarah here to show us the ins and outs of the place, and we are very grateful for all the information she has given us! Hope you have a good trip back Sarah... This evening there were 3 exhibition openings, we managed to make it to one, an exhibition by graduate students in Photography. There is an unbelievable amount of things related to art to see and do here in Helsinki, and I feel slightly overwhelmed by it all, also tired from adjusting to the cold and the time difference, but at the same time very excited with what's ahead the remaining 2 1/2 weeks. -Renske We awoke to a slightly colder than usual morning today. Today was the first day we split off as a group as I think we’re all beginning to become a bit more comfortable in Helsinki, and have found museums and galleries that cater to our own individual interests. That being said I decided to return to Ateneum this morning.
The reason I chose to come back was to spend a little more time with Eino Ruutsalo’s three video pieces, to let each sink in a little more than my original viewing and to figure out the little techniques used to execute them. I found myself trapped in the first two galleries of the modern section and by the time I was finished with Hockney’s prints and ready to move onto the pieces I had intended to see I realised it was half 12 and my disposable camera prints were ready to collect! I walked for a while through this somewhat more familiar city, on a mission to find my new photo’s, and when I reached the shop, successfully collected them and walked out. I did the same thing I do every single time I get photos developed: I sat on the nearest step I could find and gave them the first quick flick-through. Although more expensive, the prints came out beautiful, a lot better quality than back home. I decided to use my first batch to test out how the camera works with snow and did a few little tests with light as well as snapping photos of our little family going about our days. I’ve decided to include a few of these photos as part of the blog, instead of today’s photos because I only took about three altogether. On my return journey to Ateneum to finally fulfil one of my tasks for the day, I got distracted when I came across Galerie Anhava. A solo exhibition by Mari Sunna titled ‘Remnant’ was being shown and it was a welcome sight after the absolute overload of artists from Ateneum. I spent a while sketching and soaking everything in before I was told the gallery was closing. I met the girls at K-market shortly after, and we headed home to top up our sketchbooks with little tidbits and get a bit of grub. I’m about to pass out as I write this, today has been one of the more tiring days so far, and I’m sure tomorrow will be just as busy. We’re going to be heading out of the city with Sarah and attending a gallery opening shortly after getting back. So goodnight. Hei hei. See-ya later alligators. -Sean This morning, following a fast ten minutes of us shovelling bread, porridge and coffee and not forgetting lidl multigrain hoops, we rushed out the door. Jackie remembering to close the door and caught the tram into the city centre to meet a smiling Sarah at the Ateneum Art museum. Cue pleasantries and sorting out of plans for the day. Our day began with a trip to the Ateneum museum where we sorted out our museum cards. I found the museum to be very interesting and surprisingly for me, I noticed I was able to relax into the visit quite easily and began to enjoy the experience immensely. I thought the collection was laid out very well and really appreciated the context that was given for each room of paintings. It's interesting to note the similarities/ differences in how work is hung her in relation to back home.
After our cultural experience at the museum we were ushered by Sarah to the South Harbour where she showed us where we can take boats during our free time to Suomenlinna, Helsinki Zoo and boats to Talin, Estonia. It was there at the harbour we found the Allas sea pool and me and Jackie plan to frequent it over the next few weeks. We shuffled slowly into town to explore more of the design and art, and came across an open driveway which showcased classic Finnish architecture built in the 1880’s. My curiosity took over and I ventured into the court yard amazed by the colour of the walls and beautiful tall windows filled with what were artists studios. Chance turned out to be on our side and an artist in residence was present just lurking within the window frame. Out emerged a lanky fashion model/artist who informed us about his artist in residence and how he arranged this opportunity, he also informed us about the harsh reality of being an artist and having to do work for advertising companies so that you can continue to do the thing you love. This was a very interesting insight into life as a Finnish artist. Overall it was an interesting day with interesting experiences. - Liam So we set off at 8 am this morning to meet Sarah at the main train station in Helsinki to go to Varia College in Vantaa, which is situated a few miles outside of the capital.
We walked there in the drizzly, milder than expected morning, and took the 20 min train journey to the college. It is like a Finnish version of GTI, except 5 times bigger. We were greeted and hosted by Anu Lahde, the international co coordinator, a very friendly and accommodating lady who gave us lots of interesting information about places of interest and forms to get our student travel passes. This will allow us to travel around the numerous galleries and museums in Finland and surrounding areas. Unfortunately as I am a mature student I had to pay twice as much as my younger classmates which I found to be unfair, in a place which prides itself on being equal and fair to all its citizens regardless of age, race, or profession! In Finland education is free and encouraged, and it is not uncommon for mature students to randomly change profession in their career, to re educate and even do a phd in their newly chosen field. Back to Varia college... their ethos is learning by doing or applied learning, and this is visible all over the college, demonstrated in numerous departments where you can see just that. The construction course built houses from scratch, and outside is busy with forklifts and trucks clearing snow and operating heavy machinery. The painting and decorating department was also a hive of activity, as we saw amazing creations evolving. After this tour of the facilities on offer, we were then served a fabulous lunch by the catering department, complete with mini restaurant. We were even served a 3 course meal by trainee waiters! Some interesting facts about Varia college: There are 3000 young students 1000 adult students 260 teachers 6 special needs teachers 3 social workers 8 councillors 2 psychologists 4 school nurses 1 doctor 2 youth workers Mental and physical health are taken seriously here with a hands on approach in a country that is steadily dealing with reducing their suicide rate . We could learn something from this in Ireland where suicide is becoming an epidemic that nobody wants to talk about at times. Today was such an interesting day and big thanks to the lovely Anu for taking such good care of us. We arrived back in the city feeling the exhaustion creeping up on us, so had a nap and woke to a yummy curry made by Renske. We are settling in, now to make a plan as to which of the millions of galleries to go to and to make the most of this wonderful opportunity to develop our studio practice skills. -Jackie The morning of the 9th of February we all met at Terminal 1, departure number eight. It was a windy morning as storm Erik arrived in Ireland and we were almost certain our flight was going to be delayed. Thankfully our flight departed on time and we were on our way to Frankfurt. We got to Frankfurt at around 8.05am and the atmosphere had completely changed, it was strict and very formal. We were also aware that we didn’t have an awful lot of time in-between getting off one flight and getting onto the next. We were on our way to customs and the unthinkable happened, one of us was pulled aside by airport security. We all set off to find Gate 14A, Jackie took charge and we were like her little ducklings following behind. We were almost at the gate when Sarah contacted us to inform us that she was on her way and so was our classmate, a misunderstanding by airport security. A sense of relief came over us all. I’d never been so happy to sit down on an aeroplane chair before, all the rushing and panic was over, and we were finally on our way to Helsinki.
All you could see was white, white clouds and the plane wing. Then just like magic, a beautiful setting of snow, ice, log cabin houses and trees appeared. We had arrived safely in Helsinki at 1.15am and we were all together. We got a shuttle bus to Helsinki city centre, and along the way the scenery was like nothing I’d seen before, it was picture perfect. There were beautiful log cabin homes with massive open windows and small porches outside covered in thick snow... like something from a movie scene. After endless hours of traveling I think I speak for everyone when I say, we were all absolutely shattered and just wanted to get into our apartment and relax for a while. The feeling of exhaustion, hunger and shock got to me and I completely started to panic, I was in Helsinki without anyone close to me. I rang my mum and started to get a bit upset but knew it was all down to tiredness. Sarah and everyone comforted me and made me feel like myself again. I think without them I would have wanted to come back home straight away...that's all part of this Erasmus experience. Sarah kindly went to get our keys, while we waited in a café across from Helsinki train station and got something to eat. We shared pitta bread with humous and falafels with salad and sweet potato fries with garlic dipping sauce. When Sarah returned with our key’s, we got a taxi to meet her at the entrance of our apartments and she showed us the way. We unpacked, choose our rooms and got settled in. It’s almost half twelve and we're all sitting in the sitting room, having cups of tea, getting to know each other a bit better, all working in our sketchbooks whilst talking about the next three weeks ahead. In my opinion if its going to be anything like today then it's going to me an emotional roller-coaster, but I can’t wait. Now that we're here, I can’t wait to learn more about the Finnish culture, to explore Helsinki and to build my skills as an artist. -Sophie Our 8 Art & Animation students have set off on their Erasmus+ work placement to Finland. The placements will see these students spend 3 weeks working in placements related to their vocational area. #GTIGalway #Erasmus #EUandMe#FutureSuccess #GRETB #Leargas
|
Art Students
|