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by Marja-Leena

the Sami and Siida

Part of my ongoing research into my Finnish ethnology has been learning more about the other groups in the Finno-Ugrian family of people. The Sami (formerly called Lapps) of Northern Finland, Sweden, Norway and Northwest Russia are one group and they have a wonderful centre, Siida***, located in Inari in Finnish Lapland.

Siida is the home of the Sami Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre, both a meeting place and an exhibition centre devoted to the Sami culture and the nature of the far north. It includes an open-air museum begun in 1960 and restored in 2000. There are many interesting pages to explore and learn, for example, that this is the oldest area in Northern Lapland inhabited by people and that some archaeological findings from the area are from 9,000 years ago. People have lived there as early as the prehistoric times, the Stone Age and the Early Metal Age, about 6,000 -2,000 years ago.

Like many indigenous people around the world, the Sami have been actively reviving their ancient culture and this centre offers many events celebrating it and others, for themselves and for visitors. One of this summer’s visiting exhibitions is from Hokkaido: The Ainu and the World of Gods. (I happened to write about the Ainu a while ago.)

The Calendar Archive lists the rich variety of past events. Skolt Sami includes a digital slide show with narration about the wartime evacuation and settlement of this group of displaced peoples. The annual Skabmagovat Reflections of the Endless Night Festival in January 2004 is interesting – click on “Northern Lights Theatre” (left sidebar) which is made entirely of snow and lit with real candles. The coldest shows have taken place at -40C! Then click on “Animation” and see the Aurora.

More about the Sami.

***March 21st, 2012: These links have been updated. Some of the mentioned pages are no longer at their specified locations after nine years, I’m sorry to say, but do search around the site if interested.

June 15, 2004 in Ethnicity, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric, History, Rock Art & Archaeology by Marja-Leena Comments Off on the Sami and Siida

by Marja-Leena

Rembrandt at Retretti

I was very excited to learn that my favourite and a most unique art gallery has some exciting printmaking exhibitions this summer. “The Retretti Art Centre is one of the largest art centres in the Nordic region. Located in the heart of Finnish lakeland and in close proximity to the magnificent Punkaharju Ridge, Retretti is unique in that it has galleries both above and below ground. The subterranean galleries and concert hall, excavated during the 1980s to a depth of 30 metres, cover an area of 3 700 square metres.”

This summer’s exhibitions feature many printmakers. There are 65 printworks by the great master Rembrandt, paintings & printworks by Swedish artist Anders Zorn (1860-1920), who is said to have modelled himself after Rembrandt, and works by the best contemporary Estonian printmakers.

There’s an interesting review in the Helsingin Sanomat International online newspaper that I read regularly.

I am very disappointed to find only this small photo of part of the grotto gallery to show you what an exciting space this is. And, I’m disappointed not to be visiting that part of the world this summer!

Addendum 2012: So sad! The Retretti Art Centre closed in 2012. Above links to it are of course now dead.

June 4, 2004 in Art Exhibitions, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric by Marja-Leena Comments Off on Rembrandt at Retretti

by Marja-Leena

visiting Karelia

Going through some of my old bookmarked links, I came across a favourite saved sometime around the year 2000, The Karelian Journal. It is a fascinating real-life story about an international group that travels to the northwestern region of Russia called Karelia to attend a conference to save the beluga whales of the White Sea and see the best petroglyphs in Scandinavia. It also gives us a glimpse of life in this much-ignored region of Russia after perestroika.

The author is Jim Nollman, who was invited to join the expedition. He is “an American conceptual artist who works with themes pertaining to human/animal protocol, and a musician who has spent twenty years attempting to communicate with various whale species in the wild. [In 1997, he] staged a theatrical performance on the subject of shamanism in Helsinski, which was promoted by a poster displaying [a] petroglyph.”

Leader of the group is Rauno Lauhakangas, an engineer with Nokia and “a researcher at the European Laboratory for Particle Physics in CERN Switzerland. CERN is where the World Wide Web got started and Rauno was there at the inception”. He started The Whalewatching Web, “which promotes the idea that wherever whalewatching flourishes, whaling must wither. Today, the site flourishes with tens of thousand of hits every day, and has helped instigate the growth of whalewatching around the world, especially in Japan, the Azores, and Spain… Rauno is also the president of the Finnish Society for Prehistoric Art, and an avid student of Northern European history which dates back several thousand years.”

“Scandinavian bedrock is adorned in many places with petroglyphs, some dating before 5000 BC. The images run the gamut from moose, swans, whales, ships, astronomical motifs, men with giant hands, battle scenes, and depictions of village life so effusive in their detail that they could have inspired Breughel. No one can say for certain whether this art was created by Finno-Ugric people…, or by ancient Saamis (Lapplanders)…. Some of the best petroglyph sites are found in Karelia, the Russian Republic that shares a long western border with Finland….Much of the oral folklore upon which the Finnish epic poem, The Kalevala, is based was actually collected in Karelia.”

Because of this Rauno Lauhakangas “organized an international conference on petroglyphs in collaboration with the Russian Academy of Sciences. A secondary reason for organizing the conference relates to his compassion for whales. One of the best known Karelian petroglyph sites on the White Sea displays several reliefs that depict human beings interacting with cetaceans. Many scholars believe they are the oldest pictures of whales found anywhere in the world. The fact that belugas still reside in the White Sea, suggests to Rauno that whalewatching tied to a program of petroglyph interpretation could provide the spark to ignite Karelian tourism. Because Russia was one of the world’s most active whaling nations until ten years ago, the current economic pessimism could easily entice them to start it up again, perhaps focusing on coastal species like belugas. But if whalewatching is established on the White Sea, it will obviate the resurrection of whaling, while contributing one more building block to the edifice of Karelian self-sufficiency.”

“Two of our traveling companions in the backseat are Estonians, Vaino Poikalainen (president of Estonian Prehistoric Society) and Loit Joekalda, author and designer of the first book in English on the subject of Karelian petroglyphs.” Other participants include “Juhani Gronhagen, a Finnish archeologist who conveys the most uplifting story of the day’s long journey. Frustrated by the illegibility of ancient paintings found at a lakeside dig, Juhani brought in two Finno-Ugric tribespeople from Siberia to help interpret.”

Nollman writes that the region “is the worst of the Third World. The town is falling down before my eyes, as if years have passed since anyone bothered to change a street lamp, repair a window, or pick up the trash.”

There’s a great deal of interesting reading here, full of interesting connections.

This story is very personally meaningful for me for two reasons. The first is known to regular readers of this blog concerning my interest in my Finnish ethnicity and the ancient rock art of northern Europe.

The second is about synchronicity again. My research into this area started around 1999 – 2000. In 2002, in conjunction with an exhibition in Finland with two colleagues, we made a trip a trip to Tallinn, Estonia, where we met Loit Joekalda and saw his work about the Karelian petroglyphs. It wasn’t until later back at home, rereading this web page that I made the connection, not having remembered Loit’s name in the article!! One day I hope to go and see these sites for myself.

Additional information on Karelia: from wikipedia, the Many Karelias*, a map*, and
on travel to Karelia (this is mostly in Finnish, some English, and with good photos).
* links expired and removed)

May 21, 2004 in Ethnicity, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric, Rock Art & Archaeology by Marja-Leena Comments Off on visiting Karelia

by Marja-Leena

Nature Art

The work of Finnish visual artist Anni Rapinoja was recently brought to my attention by Irma H. of Finland, who initiated an interesting correspondence since finding my blog. Rapinoja uses collected plant materials to create her unusual sculptures and earth installations. On her site it says:

Nature has always been an important factor in Anni Rapinoja’s work. Natural materials are her raw materials and workmates. Earlier her work lingered relieflike, on walls. But as the artist, who originaily is a trained biologist, became more aware of environmental values and started actively to protect the nature of her home island, her work, too, started to changed shape and spread also to walls and ceiling, out of the gallery and in to the nature.

Seeing her work reminded me of another nature or environmental artist whose work I have long admired, Lyndal Osborne of Canada. Osborne states on her website:

I feel like an archeologist seeking and retrieving discarded fragments of the urban environment and the dried out remains of natures’ seasons. All have gone through their prime of life and now remain as relics of past glories. The objects are then recreated by me as a direct response to my encounters in nature in the role of observer and participant. I am expressing in my work images which are about timelessness and regeneration. In one sense it is a form of purification, but it is also a way to understand death and to celebrate life through our need to define and humanise our existence on this planet.

Do have a look at the beautiful and moving installation works she has created and the wonderful stories behind them!

I really wanted to share this with readers because both artists’ works have some resonances with my own work and thinking, though of course they are a very different medium from my prints.

Addendum: This is very interesting: read the comments below, then have a look at the work of Polish artist Magdalena Abakanowicz. I could not find the older fibre-based works that I loved so much, except for 80 Backs, lower down the page consisting of a good review, some journal entries and a few more photos of her work.

Addendum June 13.04: Just saw this review of Osborne’s latest work in Canadian Art magazine.

May 13, 2004 in Canada and BC, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric, Other artists by Marja-Leena 2 Comments »

by Marja-Leena

Nexus: Vyg & Willendorf

Nexus_VygandWillendorf.jpg

Nexus: Vyg & Willendorf
inkjet print on Hahnemuhle watercolour paper
61 x 80 cm. (24″ x 31.5″)

The three skiers are images of Finno-Ugric rock carvings from the Vyg River, near the White Sea in the Karelia region of northwestern Russia, based on a photograph by Loit Joekalda of Tallinn, Estonia and used with his permission.

The female figures are my drawings of the Paleolithic Venus de Willendorf figure found in Austria, a recurring image in many of my works.

More pictures of Venus can be seen here.

Edited Jan.13, 2013 with larger image.

May 5, 2004 in Digital printmaking, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric, Nexus, Printworks, Rock Art & Archaeology by Marja-Leena Comments Off on Nexus: Vyg & Willendorf

by Marja-Leena

May Day or Vappu

One of the most important festivals of the year, the first day of May is a popular celebration in Scandinavia. This originally a worker’s holiday has turned into a massive celebratory festival for current and graduated high school students particularly in Finland, where it is better known as Vappu.

The name Vappu derives from St. Walpurgis, whose feast day is observed on the 1st of May. The eve of St. Walpurgis’ day has long been considered a night when witches and evil spirits come out. Vappu offers something for everybody: the international workers’ movement, European celebrations of spring, the traditional springtime revelry of Scandinavian students, the modern street carnival and the Finnish enthusiasm for drinking.

More traditional events happening are marches and demonstrations taking place across the country to celebrate the workers’ spirit. This is particularly the time for political parties and union leaders to give speeches to the faithful listeners. For others, this day is spent outdoors, Vappu after all marks the beginning of summer for the Scandinavians (even if it may be snowing on this very day). Friends and families gather around for a picnic, including some traditional delicacies, such as Tippaleipä (sweet may day biscuit) and Sima (mead).

I remember growing up with my mother always making sima, really a kind of sparkly lemonade, and the deep-fried crullers “tippaleipä” – yum! Newly greened birch branches were gathered as symbols of spring. Hauskaa Vappua, Happy May Day!

Addendum: What a coincidence! Amy at Ever So Humble writes about Walpurgisnacht.
Vappu originates from this German word and custom, though of course it has modified over time to another version in Finland. We have been through these beautiful Harz Mountains (my husband actually comes from nearby), and they certainly are unusually mystic in feeling, and the towns are wonderful! Lots of interesting reading and pictures here. Happy Walpurgisnacht and thanks, Amy!

April 30, 2004 in Culture, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric by Marja-Leena 1 Comment »

by Marja-Leena

The Spell of Rock Art

A prize possession of mine is the 2003 Finno-Ugric Calendar published by the Estonian Society of Prehistoric Art and the Fenno-Ugria Foundation. The photo work was done by society member Loit Joekalda, whom I met in Tallinn in 2002.

It is full of gorgeous colour photographs of the rock art of the Finno-Ugric region as well as short bits of ancient folk tales and songs in the original languages and in English. It is an inspiration to me in my art work and because of that, I may quote some of the writings here from time to time.

Vaino Poikalainen, chair of the Estonian Society of Prehistoric Art, wrote a most beautiful introduction, which I quote here in its entirety (though it is long):

UNDER THE SPELL OF ROCK ART
A great deal of ancient art is to be found in the present and historical territories of the Finno-Ugric peoples. Various figurines functioned of bone, wood, clay, or metal, figures painted onto rock (petrograms) or carved into it (petroglyphs), as well as cult constructions and arrangements (barrows, sacred seita-stones, labyrinths etc.) were created to animate ancient religion. Myths, traditions and rituals served the same purpose. They all reflected a vision of the world order and corresponding behavioural and communicative patterns.

Ancient art and religious practices were used to explain natural phenomena to heal the sick, to teach children and to ensure sufficient food for the community. Rock art provides perhaps the richest source of information for our present knowledge of ancient beliefs. But the very roots of our modern world views, our national identities, legislation, natural sciences, medicine, as well as many other branches of sciences, art and education were nurtured by ancient art in general and rock art in particular.

The richest sites for Finno-Ugric rock art are found in: the Tom River basin of Western Siberia (Proto-Ugrian tribes); the central and southern areas of the Ural Mountains (Proto-Ugrian and Proto-Permian tribes); the eastern coast of Lake Onega and the Vyg (Uiku) River estuary in Eastern Karelia (Proto-Finnic and Proto-Saami tribes); the islands of Lake Kanozero, the middle courses of the Ponoi River and Cape Rybachi in the Kola peninsula (Proto-Saamis); and in southern, Eastern, and Southeastern Finland (Proto-Finnic Tribes). Most of these monuments, which were created by ancient hunters, fishers and gatherers, date back to the Stone and Bronze Ages, for which no contemporary written sources are available. The oldest rock art ever discovered are the cave paintings found in the southern Urals. They are thought to be 15-17 thousand years old. The Karelian petroglyphs and the Finnish rock paintings are considered to be about 4-6 thousand years old. The Kola and Alta rock art was produced between 2.5-6 thousand years ago, while the age of the rock paintings of the middle and southern Urals as well as the Tom River petroglyphs is estimated at 3-6 thousand years.

Although the ancient images found on rocks may at first seem primitive, they eventually cast a spell over anyone who takes the trouble to look at them more deeply. Part of the reason for this may lie in their slightly childish yet aesthetically pleasing appearance. A more significant reason, however, is hidden in their power to reveal and make sense of the universality of creation, as it was reflected in ancient belief systems and a way of life closer to nature.

The significance of rock art is further enhanced by the very locations chosen as sacred sites. These were singularly shaped natural formations, bodies of water, rocks and stones where the essential magic and rituals necessary for the tribe’s existence were carried out. The aim was to achieve a harmony between the man and the environment and to ensure the continuation of the traditional way of life. Any conflict with nature, any wasteful misuse of resources or deviation from familiar patterns might have posed a threat to the livelihood and very existence of the tribe itself.

This is a way of thinking that has almost been forgotten today. In our consumer society, prosperity and a sense of security are ensured through constant growth and an increase in consumption, which can only result in constant change. Perhaps for this reason alone, it becomes difficult for the modern person to comprehend rock art. Moreover, the ancient world view and system of beliefs were doubtless part of a considerably larger whole than the fragments that have been passed on to us in the form of rock art. And yet, we can use our rich capacity for imagination together with our sense of the time and place to penetrate this ancient world in order to bring it to life in our minds, if for no more than a brief moment. The resulting spiritual contact with our ancestors from beyond millennia will prove to be an unforgettable experience; much like the first sensations in childhood: fragmentary, perhaps not fully understood, pictures, sounds and smells out of one’s memory, full of emotion and fascination, coming back to each person in its own way.

March 29, 2004 in Ethnicity, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric, Folk Legends & Myths, Rock Art & Archaeology by Marja-Leena Comments Off on The Spell of Rock Art

by Marja-Leena

The Snow Show

Joe Brady writes for Virtual Finland* about “The Snow Show – a singular cultural project:

It was a miracle of rare device,
A sunny pleasure-dome, with caves of ice!”

So wrote Coleridge of Kubla Khan’s unconventional edifice, when was it, sometime in the 18th century. What follows here may not live up to the poem’s menace and mystique but read on anyway.

The Snow Show does at least promise to be a remarkable cultural event that will bring together internationally recognized artists and architects to design collaborative installations using snow and ice as their primary materials.

In the winter of 2004 these designs will be translated into an outdoor exhibition presenting fifteen unique constructions of significant scale and beauty. The spectacle will be staged jointly in the towns of Kemi and Rovaniemi in Finnish Lapland, the country’s most northerly province.

The curators of the Snow Show, and the main minds behind it, are New York independent curator Lance Fung together with the director of the Rovaniemi Art Museum Hilkka Liikkanen, both in cooperation with colleagues in Kemi and Rovaniemi. The exhibition will be open to the public from February 12 to March 31, 2004.

The project also showcased the models and plans of the participating artist-architect pairs at the Venice Biennale of summer 2003 and at Scandinavia House in New York in October-November of 2003. The Snow Show process is due to continue through 2006, with additional venues to be announced later.

And don’t forget, if you wanted to see The Snow Show on location, as it were, all you’d have to do is get on a plane to Helsinki and then on to another one up to Rovaniemi.

Lots of interesting project details and photos can be seen at their special websites The Snow Show* and SnowNow*.

* these links are no longer active and have been removed.

March 9, 2004 in Art Exhibitions, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric by Marja-Leena Comments Off on The Snow Show

by Marja-Leena

Event: Kalevala Runos

Is this synchronicity? I have just received an email notice about an event this weekend called Vancouver Society of Storytelling. Their link is for last year’s event and because there is no current event listing, I will enter brief details below.

The Vancouver Society of Storytelling introduces and tells the Kalevala Epic of Finland with over 30 participants from across Canada. It begins on Thursday Feb. 26th 7pm with an Introduction at The Cheesecake Etcetera Coffee House, 2133 Granville Street, Vancouver. Janet Hudgins talks with Henry Lahti about Finnish Literature and with Kira Van Deusen about shamanism and about the VSOS 3-day telling by 30 presenters of Finland’s Kalevala Epic.

Presentations continue Friday evening, February 27th, all day Saturday 28th, and half-day Sunday 29th in various locations in Burnaby. For more information contact: Vancouver Society of Storytellers. (edited much later to remove personal contact info.)

February 24, 2004 in Culture, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric, Folk Legends & Myths by Marja-Leena Comments Off on Event: Kalevala Runos

by Marja-Leena

KALEVALA and The Lord of the Rings

As a Finnish-Canadian artist, I am drawn to learning more about the very ancient roots of my family in the Old World. In writing about these discoveries on this weblog, I hope to share some of these with other expatriate Finns, artists and everyone interested in this multicultural world. Maybe even my children will learn more about their heritage. For me, it is fascinating to find the connections in our cultures and history.

The KALEVALA is Finland’s national epic. The first edition appeared in 1835, compiled and edited by Elias Lönnröt, who devoted many years travelling around Finland and Karelia collecting the ancient sung runes or poems. The Kalevala had a great impact in a growing Finnish nationalism, long suppressed by Swedish and Russian rule. It influenced many artists in Finland and abroad, such as Longfellow’s Song of Hiawatha and J.R.R.Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

In the National Geographic News, we learn that a native of British Columbia, Canada, anthropologist and ethnobotanist Wade Davis traveled to a remote corner of Finland to uncover Tolkien influences among the ancient rune-singers of the Kalevala. It’s a fascinating story, worth reading!

ADDED March 4, 2004: about Elvish

and Nov.23, 2004: more about Elvish

February 19, 2004 in Ethnicity, Finland, Estonia & Finno-Ugric, Folk Legends & Myths, Linguistics by Marja-Leena Comments Off on KALEVALA and The Lord of the Rings

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