Helsinki Card - Sight of the Month
Cultural events all year round!
The Cable Factory is Finland’s biggest culture centre measuring as many as five hectares (12 acres).
The unique Cable Factory is the venue of events large and small, concerts, exhibitions, festivals and fairs. It is also the home of three special museums: Finnish Museum of Photography, Theatre Museum and Hotel and Restaurant Museum.
The Finnish Museum of Photography is a special museum devoted to the art and practice of photography and its history. The museum also arranges temporary Finnish and foreign photo exhibitions. The new spring exhibitions 2009 will be displayed from January 22 until May 24.
The exhibition Asphalt Gardens – Paradises beneath the urban fabric shows Taneli Eskola’s photographs of Helsinki from 2007–2008. Eskola (born in 1958) is a Helsinki-based artist specialising in landscape and art photography.
The Tense Territories exhibition consists of four solo exhibitions by Mohamed Bourouissa, Sini Pelkki, Carrie Schneider and Sauli Sirviö offering multiple views of new forms in contemporary photography. Mohamed Bourouissa’s (b. 1978) series of photographs titled Ring road depicts the lives of young people in the suburbs of French cities. Sini Pelkki (b. 1979) has used thousands of still photos for her video works on display. Carrie Schneider’s (s.1979) Hang on to yourself exhibition comprises videos and series of photographs – most of them on display for the first time in Finland. Sauli Sirviö’s (b. 1980) multi-image series The Great Escape from the past eight years constitutes a colourful collage of personal and intimate stories, just like a diary does.
Visitors of the Theatre Museum are taken on an excursion into the history of the Finnish theatre. The museum’s permanent displays Might and magic, Arkadia theatre and The attic of the theatre reveal the magic world of drama behind the curtain. 2009 is a jubilee year for the Finnish puppet theatre, as Finland became member of the World’s Puppet Theatre Organisation UNIMA (Union International de la Marionette) 25 years ago. The year is celebrated with a temporary exhibition The Invisible Hand due to open on February 12 and telling about the Finnish puppet theatre.
The Cable Factory also houses The Hotel and Restaurant Museum – unique in the whole world. It is a special catering, hotel, tourism and Finnish cuisine museum. The basic exhibition includes various sets of utensils, menus and interiors such as Alko liquor shop from the year 1934. The opening of the new theme exhibition Food for Travellers takes place on January 28 continuing till September 27.
Cable Factory museums, Tallberginkatu 1 (entrance G)
Finnish Museum of Photography, 1st floor, tel +358 9 6866 3621. Open Tue–Sun 11–18, admission 6 € (adults), with Helsinki Card free.
Theatre Museum, 2nd floor, tel + 358 20 796 1670. Open Tue-Sat 11–18, Sun 12-18, admission 6 € (adults), 3 € (children), with Helsinki Card free.
Hotel and Restaurant Museum, 3rd floor, tel +358 9 6859 3700. Open: Tue–Sun 11–18, admission 2 € (adults), 1 € (children), with Helsinki Card free.
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Text: Helsinki Expert
Photo: Ice Queen (Finnish Museum of Photography)
Photographer: Carrie Schneider
