I’m so excited to perform Acts of Clothing on Saturday the 21st, Sunday the 22nd and Tuesday the 24th of August in Ateneum Theatre in Helsinki.
Reservations: ainfo@ateneum.fi or call +358 (0)9-1733 6401.
Hope to see you all there!
Johanna
Author Archives: Johanna
Riga & Cesis & Helsinki
Last week I spent five days in Latvia. First I had two days off which I spent with Pekka in Riga and then we travelled to Cesis for the Cesis Art Festival and Care to Create conference where I gave a talk / discussion with Eric de Visscher.
The contemporary are festival was a great experience and I enjoyed both the programme and the conference a lot. And it was wonderful to meet so many collegues from Latvia, Lithuania, Russia and Iceland. The opening of the festival including the concert of contemporary music titled Joy was a real experience.
Riga:
My hair pin from Akiko, sunglasses Ray-Ban Jackie Ohh, handbag LumiAccessories, T-shirt Paco Chicano
Cesis:
My dress Vero Moda ‘Very’ collection, handbag LumiAccessories, shoes Minna Parikka
My glasses Dolce & Gabbana
Right after returning from Latvia, I travelled to Helsinki to work with Gregg and Laura on the ANTI Festival. Despite the heat, we had a great time. By surprise, we also found Gregg telling stories about Bob Dylan in the exhibition in Kiasma! That was part of Johanna Lecklin’s Story Café which has also been shown at ANTI. There were actually quite a few ANTI artists in the exhibition; Antti Laitinen, Eeva-Mari Haikala, Seppo Rennvall, Marja Mikkonen…
Now I’ve been preparing for my ACTS OF CLOTHING performance at the Full Moon Dance Festival in Pyhäjärvi where I’m off tomorrow. It’s been rather sweaty – the all time heat record of Finland was beaten today, +37,2 celcius degree…
Johanna
Kuopio housing fair
I visited the Kuopio housing fair (Kuopion asuntomessut) on the opening day. Over all, I must say that the fair was a slight disappointment. I’ve been running and jogging around the fair area regularly during the last couple of years, so I knew a little bit what to expect and not to expect too much. But still, I was left feeling very disappointed. Savon Sanomat wrote today that people are so positive about the fair and nobody has anything to criticize. Well, I don’t agree. The friends with whom I was there and the people with whom I’ve talked about the fair, haven’t been that impressed. For me the fair is boring. I didn’t see anything new, any new innovations whether good or bad, just the same kind of houses and architecture and furniture you see in any contemporary design magazine. Of course, some of the houses are built on stunning locations by the lake and the presence of the Finnish nature is very strong but the houses themselves didn’t really impress me.
I saw a lot of very narrow stairs (impossible for two people to pass each other), strangely large fireplaces dominating living rooms, some rather kitsch interior decorations and a lot of boring ‘safe’ design with the same lamps, same carpets, same sofas, boring kitches…
Two houses I liked the most were this passive house Kusti and this wooden house Aamunsäde. To enhance the aesthetic appeal and durability of your home, consider using timber cladding exterior, which not only adds a natural and elegant touch but also offers excellent protection against the elements.
Kusti:
Aamunsäde:
From the outside this house was more harmonic and balanced than inside.
Here’s some other stuff I liked but don’t remember the exact houses.
An interesting contemporary front but inside was rather…
A nice loft with familiar furniture
An interesting tile made from recycled glass by Lasilinkki
Spot the nice chairs…
Maija enjoying the chairs by EcoFurn. They might end up in our garden or sauna one day from www.pintanikkarit.fi. 
Off to some house building stuff now… It’s nice to be on holiday- more time for building projects and house cleaning!
busy and sweaty summer days
The last weeks have been crazy in the ANTI office. We finally launched the 2010 programme and new website on Monday and I thought I’m able to have some holiday… it didn’t really work out as something unexpected came along and I’ve been busy sorting that out. Oh well. I still have to go to the office on Monday but after that I will be on holiday until the conference in Cesis, Latvia. That isn’t much so I really have to try hard to get my mind off work but it might be a challenge as I have to prepare for my talk in the conference… But I’m really looking forward to spending a few days in Riga and Cesis! 

It has been a bit busy at home, too.
Many passersby on their summer holiday lodging for a few nights and my daughter’s birthday party. But today was a celebration as we finished the home made table for our roof terrace. So far we haven’t had any table and I’ve been complaining about that so much and just dreamed of being able to dine outdoors. Now we finally can and already did! So nice. The table might not be 100% perfect but I love it already. I didn’t do much, only some painting…
The Toy chairs by Philippe Starck, Essence Pitcher by Iittala, design Alfredo Häberli. 
It might be that Iceland is calling again…
Essence glass, wine is my new summer favourite Lindemans Early Harvest Semillon Sauvignon blanc, MacBook Pro, Mondo travel guide. 
Although it has been really hot, I’ve tried to push myself to runs regularly. The running skirt has been excellent in this kind of weather and I’ve really enjoyed my runs. Acts of Clothing shows are coming up so I’ve also been motivated. My operated knee has been better but I’m not up for really long runs with it yet. But that’s ok.
Sunglasses Jackie Ohh Ray Ban, running top Nike Fit, running skirt & shoes Asics, footpod Polar, iPod suffle.  
So yes, my daughter turned 8 and got this gorgeous bicycle as a present from the whole family including grandparents and great grandparents… She was so happy and I’m really pleased we can cycle more together. Her bicycle is Helkama Jasmine, mine is Aino and my son’s Jopo…
Birthday cake and muffins baked by her sisters…
Wishing you all beautiful summer days.
On a rollercoaster
Last weeks have been unusually emotional and tough. In the end of May and beginning of June I worked long days in the ANTI office with Kaisa and Gregg to renew and complete the festival printed brochure and website. Then on Monday the 7th of June, my partner called me and said that my father had tried to reach me many times during the day. I had forgotten to turn the phone forwarding on from my home number to my office phone and my father didn’t have my work number. I was still in the office at about 9pm when I called my dad who told me that I no longer had a sister. My little sister had died at the age of 31. Of course, everything turned upside down, I had to take some time off and we missed the outlined schedule with the brochure. I was forced to spend time with my family, my children, my mom and dad to deal with this unexpected tragedy that left all of us very very sad and full of unanswered questions.
My sister was buried in Hailuoto on the 17th of June in a small, intimate, simple ceremony. Although it was a really hard day, full of sorrow and tears, it also felt like a kind of completion and a really important ritual.
The next morning we drove back to Kuopio and I went straight into rehearsals and prepared for my performances on Sunday and Monday. I think I performed pretty amazing shows of ACTS OF CLOTHING and Physical Artistic deeds 1; Milk. Of course, I could have canceled them but I felt it was important for me to redirect my energy and put some of the very personal emotions on stage. Both of the performances were very packed, there was more audience that we were allowed to take in and we couldn’t fit everyone in to the Milk performance. I got so much positive feedback of the shows and people praised ACTS OF CLOTHING so much that I was all humbled. In the show I talked about my sister’s funeral and many people were very moved and touched about that. Although it felt like a really hard job to pull the performances together, I’m glad I did.
We also managed to get the brochure to the print and we’ll launch the ANTI 2010 programme and website on Monday the 5th of July! Exciting.
Last week I counted my work hours of the spring and realized that I’ve worked overtime more than 235 hours! No wonder I’ve been tired. So I’m desperately waiting for my summer holiday. My family needs my attention, our home and our garden needs attention but I also need to get my mind off from work. I’m trying to organize a long weekend or a small holiday with my children and with my mom somewhere…maybe in Greece, maybe Iceland… we’ll see. But I’m also really really looking forward to performing ACTS OF CLOTHING at the Full Moon Dance Festival in the end of July and in the Ateneum theatre in Helsinki in August.
Now, I wish you all very well.
Johanna
in loving memory of my sister
johanna
first flowers in the garden
I’ve been so busy that I’ve had no time to focus on the garden -and I’m not a garden fanatic like Aila for example. But still the first flowers in the garden bring me so much joy! My daughter got this idänunikko from Aila last year and it opened its first flower a couple of days ago. Also the japaninakileija in the background (small & delicate) is blooming – and it’s also from Aila…
My daughter is working hard in the garden and it’s beautiful to watch how inspired and committed she is. We had such a lovely time a few weeks ago when we planted seeds of carrots, spinach, salad, peas and sunflowers…which are all growing already.
My weekend will be filled with rehearsals of Acts of Clothing, Milk and ANTI Festival stuff like EU excels… But today I felt inspired as I had a meeting with Sonja and a little chat about my upcoming work.
Johanna
weekend in Berlin
I spent last weekend in Berlin seeing exhibitions, walking around and enjoying the spirit of the vibrant and trendy city. I saw exhibitions in Martin-Grobius-Bau which I really liked. I especially enjoyed Olafur Eliasson‘s works -some were just stunning- and it was also great to see once again a retrospective of Frida Kahlo. I’m a bit over with my passion for Frida’s works (I was crazy about her in the 80’s) but I still enjoyed the beautiful exhibition. I think I’ve never seen so many photographs of Frida. What a beautiful woman! Very inspiring. Then I saw the exhibition in Hamburger Bahnhof which was also exciting. Lot’s of works by Joseph Beuys, many fluxus artists, Andy Warhol…
I was lucky to be able to stay in a friend’s place who also kindly drew the routes to walk and streets to hang out on my tourist map. Thank you Jochen! And I just loved the area of Prenzlauer Berg. Great walks, lovely breakfasts…
On the way home, I met some friends at the Helsinki airport and we ended up wondering that why is it exactly that we live in Kuopio… Sometimes it’s hard to remember…
Johanna
days in Hamburg
I’ve been the last three days in Hamburg spending most of my time in the Live Art Festival in Kampnagel. We’ve had A Space Live for Art project meetings about both the artistic and administrational side and today I held a lecture/workshop about artistic interventions in public space to the network of Young Performance Art Lovers. I’ve also seen some great performances by Ivo Dimchev, Ivana Muller, Liquid Loft, Rotozaza and an installation by the Forsythe Company.
Kampnagel foyer with the Forsythe Company’s installation City of Abstracts on the background:
studio where I gave my workshop today:
A Space for Live Art meeting with Claire, Emmanuelle, Cathy, Anne, Jochen and Fabienne:Â
I look really strange, I know – I guess I’m just happy about my beautiful salad (and a glass of wine…):
Rhododendrons blooming not only in the Kampnagel courtyard but all over Hamburg:
A walk in town:
Lovely pink rubbish bags on the streets:
Tomorrow I’m off to Berlin for the weekend. How exciting!
Unusually…
hot days. Moments of happiness in the garden with my daughter, planting carrot, salad, peas, spinach and sunflower seeds. A few days off and a chance to think about something else than the upcoming ANTI Festival. A nice evening with the neighbours including great organic white wine, grilled salmon, cake my son baked, the first mosquito bites and sun burns. Two new rhododendrons in the garden.
A hot run and no pain in the operated knee, wearing new Asics running skirt. Slow but steady.
Excited about the upcoming trip to Hamburg and Berlin this week. A bit terrified of all the work that needs to be completed before the trip…
Johanna
Morning coffee on the balcony: 
The Mother’s Dat morning a week ago…with beautiful gifts, cake, pies, sweets, coffee….