Category Archives: Life

London & Brussels

I had the luxury of visiting London and Brussels last week. First we worked two days in London with the ANTI Festival’s core team; me, Laura and Gregg. We are so used to Skype and email that it felt so luxurious to actually be in the same physical space. And we accomplished so much! There are a million big & small details to discuss and decide with the festival programme which we are hoping to launch in the end of the month or in the beginning on June. So I was so pleased with our meeting. Very useful. And it was great to see Gregg, sniff the air of London a little bit and see my friends’ house for the first time. Inspiring!


Gregg pointing out that he’s having tea while me & Laura are enjoying something else…



We were there just a day before the royal wedding so I had to buy a Will & Kate T-shirt. When I was buying it on Oxford Street, I got interviewed for French TV. They asked me why I bought it and I said because it’s so kitsch. Probably not the right answer! We also had a lovely dinner in a wonderful tapas place with Laura in Soho. By the way, if you are in London, check out FrenchMottershead’s photographic exhibition in the Photographers’ Gallery. Saw some images before they went to print and they looked very intriguing.

From London we took the Eurostar to Brussels. It was my first time on Eurostar and I was amazed how quick and easy it is! Less than two hours and you are in Brussels. It feels like a miracle comparing to Finland where it takes four hours for me to get even to Helsinki….

In Brussels we had A Space for Live Art project meeting with all the partners. The meeting was during the Trouble Festival so evenings we spent watching works. Rosie Dennis was doing her Downtown project there and it was great to see her working in a different context, different city and language. She performed in Les Halles but I must say that I really preferred her shows in Kuopio as they were not hidden in some art space. Also the work of Mitch & Parry was great.

We had a wonderful time with Laura. The weather was great, +23 degrees and we enjoyed the city a lot. On Saturday afternoon we had a little time to pop into the city centre for shopping. I brought Laura to the Pierre Marcolini chocolate shop… I didn’t remember how amazing the chocolate really is! It blows your mind. Laura will probably hate me forever for bringing her to the Cora Kemperman shop…where we both did some shopping. Again we had wonderful tapas and on Sunday just amazing mussels in La Pré Salé. Oooh. Unforgettable.




La Pré Salé:





1st of May:

Laura’s Belgian waffle:


This week has been hard trying to adjust to the normal rhythm. Every time I’m away and then come back home, I feel that so much work has piled up I don’t know where to start. But I’ve been happy cycling, going to Zumba and getting my energy flowing. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to Functional Training with Pipsa and on Saturday a Zumba marathon with Outi! Yeah.

Johanna

 

an attempt

I’m trying to survive the shock of the ‘True Finns’ becoming one of the biggest parties in Finland. Since the elections, I’ve rejoined the Green Party, and certainly I’m not the only one in my community who is doing the same, expressing their political views more publicly.
One of the politically seriously questionable claim of the ‘True Finns’ is that the traditional parties want to Islamize Finland. I mean…WTF??? So when Tatu & Pekka were jamming last night, I couldn’t help but laugh with Anniina at their attempt to Islamize us…
Enjoy – but be careful!

Johanna

working on the sauna

Today I finally had some time to work on our sauna project. This is the luxury of having a long weekend at home. Painting is so rewarding and weather was great today! This pic has been taken a few days ago but today we finished all the walls with first black coat and 3 walls with the second layer.


And what a pleasure it was painting while the kids were baking bread and muffins! Justiina’s muffins were seriously the best I’ve ever had and kids served them with coffee. Heaven on earth!


Johanna

ARS11 opening & Helsinki

As you know, I went to the opening of ARS11 exhibition last week in Kiasma, Helsinki. Here’s some pictures of the night.





Tarja Halonen opening the exhibition:

Our friend’s Hannu’s & Irene’s cat Neppu:

A slow morning:

Meeting with Mladen & Bruno:

Great, inspiring trip.

Johanna

lovely Sunday morning

What a nice morning! +10 celcius degrees, sunny although a bit windy. I decided to take a risk and test how my operated knee feels about running. I wore my Nike Free trainers and run about 40mins. I wanted to take it very easy so I walked a few minutes in the beginning and was able to run without stopping after that. What a great feeling! My knee did hurt a little bit a few times but not so much that I would have had to stop. Also the kind of stinging pain went away so I’m not really able to analyze what causes it. I think I just have to let the knee to get used to running very, very slowly. I’m also thinking that maybe the very light trainers without any extra support actually work best for my knee. Don’t know. Anyway, I felt happy and strong and I can really feel all that functional training and Kinesis workouts in the strength of my legs. Running itself feels easy and light, it’s just the knee that is troubling me.

After my run I had a quiet breakfast reading Helsingin Sanomat and enjoying gorgeous pecan bread that I bought in Maatilatori in Helsinki. So delicious! It was really inspiring to spend a few days in Helsinki. I went to the opening of ARS11 in Kiasma with Pekka, saw Lea & Pekka Kantonen’s exhibition in Taidehalli and hang out with my daughter. Lovely. Unfortunately I couldn’t stay to see Maija Hirvanen’s new choreography in Zodiak but hopefully I will have a chance to see it somewhere else soon.

Today I have some writing, budgeting and thinking to do. Also my home office is waiting to get organized a bit better…

Johanna

 

ANTI business and other stuff

These last weeks have been very busy with the upcoming ANTI Festival. This is the time when we need to make final decisions about the programme, confirm sites, think about all kinds of details in terms of artists, sites, how audiences move between the works and sites etc. etc. And this year is of course special as it is the 10th anniversary of ANTI – Contemporary Art Festival. Later during the spring we will let you know about the plans we’ll have for this special edition of ANTI. So stay tuned! In the meantime, make sure you’ll visit our Facebook page to hear the latest news and keep with the upcoming campaigns!

I’ve been preparing a new collaboration with Rebecca French from FrenchMottershead. We’ll begin to work in June when Rebecca comes to Kuopio and although there’s a million things to sort out and do before that, I’m still looking forward to it all soooo much.

Later in April I’ll visit Brussels as we have A Space for Live Art project meeting during the Trouble Festival. I’ll be travelling with ANTI Festival’s producer Laura and we’ll also work a couple of days in London with Gregg.

Last weeks have been great for cycling in Kuopio! The snow has melted away from the streets so no need to worry about the icy roads anymore. I’m so in love with my new bike and the Ortlieb back panniers. So useful and beautiful! The only downfall is that the roads haven’t been cleaned up yet and it can be pretty dusty riding down the streets. But it still feels great!

Johanna

Weekend trip to Copenhagen

About four months ago I decided with my friend Maija that we will take an extended weekend holiday away from home, work and family. I had a small amount of award points to use for my flight so Copenhagen became our destination. And we both love Copenhagen! I think I was there in 2008 for the last time and Maija has also visited the city many times.

So what is so great about Copenhagen? The atmosphere is relaxed, people seem happy, mellow and content. They seem to have time to enjoy slow brunches, they cycle everywhere, everyone speaks English, you see a lot of families and fathers pushing prams and after their Sunday morning runs, the Danes go and buy fresh bread, buns and croissants in their local bakeries. The climate is a bit warmer than in Finland and it was great to get a taste of the spring! The life has spread more out into the streets with cafes, shops, bars and picnics. Copenhagen is compact, clean and easy to navigate, Danish design is present almost everywhere and the Kastrup airport is possibly the best in the world.

So if you love to hang out in cafes, enjoy gorgeous brunches, are a lover of design and like the feeling of cities like Amsterdam and Berlin, Copenhagen is the best destination. The only downfall is that Copenhagen is one of the most expensive cities in the world and everything is more expensive than in Finland.

And of course I was so delighted to be travelling with Maija and we had a great time! Maija had brought the latest Mondo with its tips for best brunches in Copenhagen and we had two wonderful brunches. On the first morning we went to Kalaset and on the second to Café Sokkelund, which was selected the “Byens Bedste Brunch” in 2010. I really enjoyed both of them but maybe Kalaset a bit more. On our last morning we wanted to have a breakfast in Granola but it wasn’t open yet and instead we had a great coffee and sandwich in a local neighborhood bakery. On Saturday evening we had cosy dinner in Atlas Bar where I really enjoyed the lively and bubbly energy.

Maija in Kalaset:



Brunch in Cafe Sokkelund:



We walked a lot in Norrebro, Vesterbro and Frederiksberg, Nyhavn and Latinerkvarteret and did some shopping as well. Maija bought a luxurious Aspekts handmade leather bag and I finally got a pair of Swedish Hasbeens sandals… I know we were in Denmark but Swedish Hasbeens are not easy to find in Finland! But I also got a Danish coctail dress by Bitte Kai Rand…

A walk arour Norrebro:







On Istedgade:

Illums Bolighus:



Maybe the most comfortable armchair in the world? With the Paul Smith cover the price was over 6 000 €.


Maija with her gorgeous Aspekts leather bag:

Magasin du Nord:



Frederiksberg Have:


Sunday morning mist in Vesterbrostorv:

And finally, my Hasbeens!

In all the trip was a very needed little brake. Now back in business with new energy!

Johanna

the performance period is over for now

Performed Twirling World four times with Sonja. It’s a hard piece to perform but it was great to experience that the performance had developed and also our relationship as performers had deepened. There were some really nice people in the audience and I’m happy some friends finally saw it. The last performance was very emotional and many people were howling in the audience – I guess it had a certain sad energy of a last show as both Sonja and I also felt quite emotional. Anyway, it wasn’t the very last show but it was an end of this period.




Photos Pekka Mäkinen.

Some thoughts:
I’ve noticed that it’s been a while since I’ve seen the anorexic woman whom I saw last year walking along Saaristokatu almost every day. Is she dead?

I’m really looking forward to the weekend brake with Maija in Copenhagen!
But before that, there’s a lot of work to do.

Johanna

exercising and preparations for shows

So next week we kick off with two shows of Twirling World. Monday will be stressful with technical rehearsals, building up the space, getting all the little bits and pieces together. But it’s great to perform the piece again! I just hope we’ll have audience. I’ve bought new silver blankets and tights for the show, also Tecni Pli to do my hair with Ghd…

This week I’ve taken it pretty easy and spent time at home. I’ve done some wallpapering, a lot of Kinesis and functional training as well as Zumba. Outi at the Functional Studios leads fantastic Zumba classes! They are a great way of getting aerobic exercise and she sure makes you sweat and jump so that your heart rate hits the max. I cycled to the city a couple of times this week but the roads were rather icy and dangerous (especially without winter tyres…). And the snowstorm yesterday didn’t make me happy either. But today is sunny and  above zero degrees so I’m hoping the snow melts quickly so that I can start cycling on a regular basis.

All the ladies clothes and jackets were on sale (-40%) in Anttila and after my training today I went to have a look if they have any nice Nanso dresses, skirts or tops. Anttila’s clothing section is not really for me but some of Nanso’s clothes I like and came home with two tops.

Now it’s time to go and listen to Jukka Poika and Raappana at Kulttuuriareena 44!  And since the gig is open to all ages I’m going with my son.

See you there?

Johanna

My knee

Some of you might remember that I had a knee surgery about a year ago. According to all standards, the knee has recovered amazingly well from the ACL reconstruction but it hasn’t always felt that way. I had my first performances last year in June, just 4 months after the surgery. Thinking back of them now, I’m pretty amazed I could pull them thru. Just under a month ago I performed Acts of Clothing is Oulu, and for the first time after the surgery, I felt that maybe my knee will recover in the end to the point where I can actually forget about the injury and just perform without any hesitation and fear. I was able to push much further in my shamanic dance and didn’t have to hold back in the disco either. And also lately in other trainings like Kinesis, Functional training or Zumba, I’ve felt the knee really getting much much better which feels fantastic. Of course, I knew that the recovery process takes approximately two years but it’s easier to read that from a book than live thru it and accept it. But right now I feel optimistic and hope that I can do some more running next summer.

My knee right after the surgery:

Two weeks after the surgery:

Last summer, about 5 months after the surgery:

My knee today, a year after the surgery:

Not bad, eh?!

Johanna