Tove Jansson at the Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki

Like most Finns, I'm a bit of a Muumin fanatic. It's no wonder, since I grew up with the characters and the TV cartoons. I also passed this love of the simultaneously wise and naive characters created by Tove Jansson onto my children.

To celebrate Tove Janssons centenary, the Ateneum Art Museum in Helsinki are stageing an exhibition of her life and works. I was alerted to this 100 year celebration of the birth of the creator of the Muumin Trolls, by my Finnish friend, one who I often refer to on this blog. As usual, she has her ear to the ground about all things arty both here in the UK but especially in Finland, and told me I absolutely have to make time during my latest working whistle- stop visit of Finland to go to the Ateneum.

My friend being the good friend she is, even got me the name and phone number of the curator, so that I could take photos of the exhibition, as 'an important blogger'! In fact I took pictures for the Finn-Guild Horisontti magazine too - and wore my first Finn-Guild press badge proudly.

The Ateneum exhibition charts Jansson's development as artist - painter, illustrator and writer - chronologically. It also has pieces by her painter father, and many charming self-portraits of the artist herself. There are copies of political illustrations Tove Jansson made for a satirical magazine Garm during the 2nd world war, as well as many original prints of the much beloved Muumin drawings. The most charming of the displays are paper mâché (or to give them their correct description: mixed medium) pieces of the characters and the Muumin houses. These were all in glass cases, and I tried my best to get good images of them.

When I returned to the apartment where I was staying, and looked out of the window, I saw where Tove Jansson got her inspiration for some of the Muumin landscapes. The pastel coloured houses with pointy turrets and dark slate roofs of Ullanlinna, the part of Helsinki where Jansson lived, are very similar to the blue Moomin house. And the bare trees reminded me of the dark forests of the melancholy Moomin tales.

“You must go on a long journey before you can really find out how wonderful home is.” 
― Tove Jansson, Comet in Moominland

Don't miss this fantastic exhibition!

The Ateneum, Helsinki

Tove Jansson

14.03 - 07.09.2014

Kaivokatu 2

000100 Helsinki

www.ateneum.fi

A new biography to coincide with the exhibition, 'Tee Työtä ja Rakasta' by Tuula Karjalainen out for the time being in Finnish and Swedish only, is available here. If you are a Finn-Guild member, there is a copy to borrow from our library. Contact mail [at] Finn-Guild [dot] org for more information about membership and Finn-Guild library services.

Helsinki shopping

When in Helsinki I rarely miss a visit to Stockmann's department store. This shop is a bit of a Selfridges of Helsinki, and you'd be pushed to want something they don't stock. Especially the food hall downstairs is so moorish, I have to be really careful not to buy it all up! (Suitcase issues are always a problem when I'm travelling).

Edible roses…or

Strawberries and blueberries...

...or a rye sandwich to go?

Another place which I rarely miss is the large Marimekko store on North Esplanade, as I am a bit of a Marimekko freak. I've been brought up on the stuff after all!

This is me wearing the classic Raitapaita
circa 1970…!

You can imagine my delight when a friend asked me last Saturday if I'd like to go to the outlet store (Tehtaanmyymälä) in East Helsinki, near the newly branded shopping centre, Itis. I didn't even know such a thing existed!

Although some of the stuff in the Tehtaanmyymälä is not that heavily discounted (dresses were only down from 129 Euros to 119 Euros, for example), you can still find some fantastic bargains, like this classic striped t-shirt. I've head several of these Raitapaita t-shirts over the years, so I thought it was about time to get another one. I found a perfect summer combo: Navy and white, and it was discounted in the Marimekko Outlet store. Couldn't really say no…?

These are my other finds: the dress is from the current collection, but I couldn't resist as it's really thin fabric and perfect for a beach to bar cover up (we are off on holiday soon; can't wait).

Another great Finnish clothing store which a good friend recommends for businesswear is Andiata. They do good quality suits, shirts and dresses for special occasions. The fit is just right, and when in Finland I buy one or two pieces. This time I went for this sleeveless cotton shirt. It was so comfortable to wear I tried to get another one in white (you know me and my serial shopping problem), but they had run out of my size everywhere. (Andiata can also be found at Stockmann's).

A very different store, which I'd not visited before is Moko Market and Cafe. It's a sort of Finnish Anthropologie, although I was told Moko precedes the US store. This shop stocks quirky home wares and clothing from the Nordic countries, as well as French and American stuff.

The coffee they grind onsite is delicious, we brought home this breakfast blend, which was just perfect for a morning brew.

Finally, for me, a shopping trip in Helsinki would not be complete without a visit (or, erhm, half a day's browse) to Akateeminen Kirjakauppa. This vast bookshop on North Espalande has a coffee shop upstairs, called Aalto Cafe. Here you can hear literary discussions abound, or see refined Helsinki ladies having coffee and cakes.

Akateeminen Kirjakauppa has books on any subject in almost any language you may require. In short; a writer's heaven.

I love these old escalators.

This time I was also delighted to find a friendly face (or book cover) to remind me of London. In the biography section on the second floor I spotted Maggie and Me, salonista par exellance Damian Barr's recent book. I hope it'll soon be translated into Finnish and Swedish so everyone in Finland can enjoy this excellent biography.

In spite of now having no space at all in my suitcase, I bought three hardback books by new Finnish writers. I will report back soon on my book review site on these. Just as well my friend had room in her suitcase for my books. The same old story! (Kindle, what Kindle?)

Stockmann Helsinki

Aleksanterinkatu 52Puh. +358 (0)9 1211

Marimekko Tehtaanmyymälä (Outlet Store) 

Address: Puusepänkatu 4, 00880 Helsinki, FinlandPhone:+358 9 75871

Transit: Herttoniemen metroasema

Andiata

Alexanterinkatu 40 - 42

Helsinki

Moko Market & Café Punavuori
Perämiehenkatu 10
00150 Helsinki
p. 09-41504500
mokomarket@moko.fi

Moko Market & Café Sörnäinen
Vilhonvuorenkatu 11
00500 Helsinki
p. 045 144 6225
mokosornainen@moko.fi

Akateeminen Kirjakauppa

Keskuskatu 1, Pohjoisesplanadi 39 (PL 128), 00101 HELSINKI
Tel: 09-121 41
Sähköposti: tilaukset@akateeminen.com

Will my Strindberg obsession produce a novel?

One of my tasks here in Helsinki has been to do some research for my new book. Or one of them…I've long had an idea to write a fictional story about the life of August Strindberg and particularly something involving Siri von Essen, August Strindberg's first and most influential wife.

Siri von Essen

Siri, who was a Swedish speaking Finnish daughter of a nobleman, was herself married when she, in the mid 1970's, met the famous Swedish playwright. Strindberg was a young writer and librarian at the time, and had yet to make his mark on the world. He wooed Siri with his clever words and promises of fulfilling her deeply held desire to enter the stage. They married in 1877 after Siri had divorced her first husband.

The tumultuous nature of this socially scandalous marriage between the two artists is well documented in Sweden, but the story is less well known elsewhere. As you may by now know, I've always been obsessed with Strindberg, and have lately also become fascinated by Siri. (Especially after I read this excellent novel/biography.) Her life seems to have been so full of love, and tragedy. She lost her first daughter to a mysterious lung disease and her second child (and first with Strindberg) was stillborn. There are rumours that Siri was somehow to blame for both deaths, and that this was due to her selfish desire to prioritise her own career. Historians disagree on whether she was good or bad for Strindberg; a spoilt, unfaithful empty-headed acress, or a wronged passionate woman trying to make the best of a bad marriage? You can imagine which side I take. Whatever your opinion, a life so controversial is also utterly fascinating.

Siri strikes a pose.

My interest in Siri is further piqued by the fact that she was born Finnish, but spent most of her life abroad. She moved to Sweden with her first husband, and then with Strindberg she visited almost every corner of Europe while the two stayed in string of hotels, often leaving in the dead of night to avoid paying their bills. Siri had three more children with Strindberg, but the marriage ended when the playwright became convinced that the two youngest children were fathered by another man.

After the divorce, in 1983, Siri moved back to Helsinki with her children and a friend who was rumoured to be her lover. The last ten years Siri spent in Helsinki, a place which she called home, were not all happy.  She struggled with money and lost her friend to alcoholism. Strindberg didn't exactly pay regular maintenance to his estranged family.

In 1912,  at the age of 61, just two weeks before Strindberg himself perished, Siri von Essen died in Helsinki, after she suffered a fatal fall.

Siri and her three children lived in several different places in Helsinki, and today I've been tracing her steps. Here are a few photos to show you some of the houses the first Mrs Strindberg might have spent her days in.

A-z Blogging Challenge: H is for Helsinki

My theme: Writing and the business of writing

What has Helsinki got to do with writing, I hear you scream. Well, OK, absolutely nothing, although, Helsinki is the setting for two of my books, and will be the setting for my next book too. (More about this later.)

I just thought today, about third way thoroughly this challenge, it's time for a pictorial post.

I wasn't born in Helsinki, so I can't claim to be 'bare footed' Hesalainen (I don't know why Helsinki born Finns are called 'bare footed', strange?). But, I was only 15 when we moved there, and I lived in Helsinki until I moved to the UK, so it's very much a home town for me.

I've also just booked tickets to go to Helsinki in May to do some research for the above mentioned book, so I thought these pictures I took last summer would be fitting. I hope you enjoy them!

To learn more about Helsinki, go to Visit Helsinki.

The 5 most romantic places in Helsinki

Today I'm over at The Englishman blog where I reveal which places in Helsinki for me are the most romantic.  Hop over there and see if you agree (some of the venues are a bit surprising….)