Jenni Tieaho - The Black Swan

The Black Swan - is called the fabulous outdoor art exhibition by Jenni Tieaho (b. 1969) situated in the yard of Akseli Gallen-Kallela Museum. Inside the atelier building there is an exhibition The Inner Eye. The curator of the exhibition is Nina Kokkinen, a researcher of art and religion and the exhibition is largely based on her published doctoral dissertation. Tieaho's mythological animals fit the esoteric theme brilliantly. Btw. Cygnys cygnus is Finland's nationl bird.

Black swan and other strange visions

Tieaho's stunning sculptures show dreamlike works of swans and human animals. The materials used are mainly natural such as wood, tar and willow parts of Finland's natural plants. The starting point for Tieaho's work is Finnish mythology and mythical animals. The swan character has a lot of symbolism, beliefs and myths. In the ancient beliefs of the Baltic Sea tribes, the swan was humanized and sacred. Swan was believed to be interconnected between this world and the world beyond. In the Kalevala, a swan swims in the black river of Tuonela, and when it leaves, Lemminkäinen loses his life. Jean Sibelius has a composition under the name of The Swan of Tuonela.

Humanized / Mythological Horses 

In addition to swans, the exhibition features horse figures made up of wooden braids and milkweed autumn wool. Horse is a symbol of freedom and a bridge to the subconscious. In Tieaho's human horse characters, man gets the animal's senses and animal man's intelligence. The equine character represents the perfect merging of conscious and instinctive.

 

The Swan of Tuonela by Jean Sibelius

// SATURDAY’S CRITTERS

Gallen-Kallela Museum - The Inner Eye

To the right: Akseli Gallen-Kallela - Kosmos / Universe

We Finns know Gallen-Kallela Museum with the name Tarvaspää. It was the atelier of the artist Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865 - 1931) and he lived on the premises in a separate villa. The studio castle of Tarvaspää is worth a visit as such. The building was completed in 1913 and was designed by the artist himself. At that time the neighbourhood was very silent, no loud motorway nearby. The building is located on a high hill overlooking the sea and sone stairs leading down steep cliffs. Stunning building and environment!

The exhibition The Inner Eye focuses on art of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Along with Akseli Gallen-Kallela, it features Pekka Halonen, Hugo Simberg, Beda Stjernschantz, Ellen Thesleff, Sigrid af Forselles and Sigurd Wettenhovi-Aspa. The curator of the exhibition is Nina Kokkinen, a researcher of art and religion and the present exhibition is largely based on her published doctoral dissertation called Seekers of Truth.

I bought myself this fabulous book by Nina Kokkinen:  Seekers of Truth.

It examines how esoteric spirituality is expressed in the art of these three painters:

Akseli Gallen-Kallela (1865 - 1931), Pekka Halonen (1865-1933) and Hugo Simberg (1873-1917).

Occultism and esoteric movements achieved unprecedented popularity in the late 19th century. Many artists were inspired by spiritualism, theosophy and the study of psychic phenomena, which came to be known later as parapsychology. Clairvoyance became one of the most fascinating topics of the period. Many people believed that the sixth sense and the inner eye of the soul made it possible to perceive the more subtle levels of reality that would normally remain unseen. Artists began to portray themselves, their friends and the masters that they admired as extrasensory seers and psychics.

Hugo Simberg - Halla / Frost 1895

Hugo Simberg - Säkkijärven poika / Boy from Säkkijärvi 1897

Hugo Simberg - Unikko / The Poppy 1896

Magnus Enckell - Pää / Head 1894

Ida A. Fielitz - Portrait of Sigrid af Forselles

Beda Stjernschantz - Madonna 1898

Pekka Halonen - Madonna 1902. Photo Nina Koskinen. My own photo was unsharp :)

Hugo Simberg - Figure in a desert & a skull, Tampere Cathedral, frescos 1904

Akseli Gallen-Kallela

Akseli Gallen-Kallela  1907

The exhibition was very interesting, although clairvoyance & spiritism are strange to myself. There were old books and photos on display and a visitor interested in esoteric things could spend hours examining them. But I admired only these great paintings, showing the best of The Golden Era of Finnish art.See also Jenny Tieaho's fabulous outdoor exhibition The Black Swan in the museum garden.

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// IMAGE-IN-ING

// ALL SEASONS

Friday Bliss #51 - Have Sun in Your Heart!

I saw this lovely poem on the blog of my blog friend Claudia. It is written by Cäsar Otto Hugo Flaischlen (1864 - 1920) and is originally written in German. I tried to interpret the poem in English, the German original is at the end. The week has been lovely: Finland has bathed in sun and summer temperatures. I have enjoyed from the bottom of my heart ❤︎

Have sun in the heart,

whether it storms or snows.

Whether the sky is full of clouds,

the earth full of strife!

Have sun in the heart,

then come what may,

it shines full light on you

the darkest day!

Have a song on the lips,

with a happy sound

it makes everyday life's

crowds step aside!

Have a song on the lips,

then come what may,

that helps you to get over 

the loneliest day

Have a word for the others

in sorrow and in pain

and tell what keeps you

so joyful and gay:

Have a song on the lips,

never lose the faith

have sun in the heart,

and everything will be bright!

Hab Sonne im Herzen,

ob's stürmt oder schneit.

Ob der Himmel voll Wolken,

die Erde voll Streit!

Hab Sonne im Herzen,

dann komme, was mag,

das leuchtet voll Licht dir

den dunkelsten Tag!

Hab ein Lied auf den Lippen,

mit fröhlichem Klang

und macht auch des Alltags

Gedränge dich bang!

Hab ein Lied auf den Lippen,

dann komme, was mag,

das hilft dir verwinden

den einsamsten Tag

Hab ein Wort auch für andre

in Sorg und in Pein

und sag, was dich selber

so frohgemut lässt sein:

Hab ein Lied auf den Lippen,

verlier nie den Mut,

hab Sonne im Herzen,

und alles wird gut!

❤︎❤︎❤︎

Wishing you a sunny last weekend of August!

- riitta

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Of Times Gone By...

Makrotex, the theme being time. Time can of course be interpreted in many ways. I chose gone times & old things. The first photos are from Tuusula, a small cottage where our national writer Aleksis Kivi (1834-1874 ) died, only at the age of 38. The cottage was really tiny with two rooms only, but the guide said that at a time even eight persons where living there! She said that the kids slept in the drawers of a dresser. Incredible in my eyes of modern welfare.

The following photos are from the renovated Fanjunkars cottage in Siuntio.

We celebrated my granddaughter Helmi’s student party there in May 2017.

Aleksis Kivi lived in Fanjunkars from 1864 to 1871 with Miss Charlotta Lönnqvist, who is said to have felt compassion of the poor writer. At that time, a young single man's residence with an older single woman - other than a laborer - was considered inappropriate, and rumors circulated about Lönnqvist and Kivi in the neighborhood. Although Lönnqvist was 20 years older than Kivi, some researchers have speculated that there was also a sexual relationship between them.

Für Juttas Digital Art Dienstag versuchte ich zu überlegen, wie Kivi die Welt sah. In den letzten Jahren seines Lebens erkrankte er an Schizophrenie und verbrachte Jahre in einer Nervenheilanstalt. Vielleicht war seine Welt verdreht und die Dämonen flogen um ihn herum?

For Jutta’s Digital Art Tuesday I tried to think how Kivi saw the world. During the last years of his life he suffered from schizophrenia and spent years in a mental institution. Maybe his world was twisted and demons were flying all around him?

// MAKROTEX CHALLENGE
// DIGITAL ART DIENSTAG
// TUESDAY’S TREASURES
// MY CORNER OF THE WORLD