My interest in broadly defined Nordicana started around 2004 when I was in primary school. I was very into skijumping and my very first favourite athlete was Matti Hautamäki from Finland. I guess I still do have some sort of my private archives filled with press articles and photos. Today's kids won't understand the joy one had reaching the final page of some daily newspapaers when Adam Małysz had his biggest triumphs. The press was interested in everything there was to be written about skijumping and I almost knew every article by heart. That was fingirling (or maybe just being a real fan?) almost 20 years ago. Then, before the Schlierenzauer era, I had lost my head and heart for Norwegian guys and even started learning Norwegian, which I found the coolest language on the planet. I also taught myself how to swear in Finnish and loved to bright up my dairy with such useful phrases.
As years went by, I slowly developed my love for Scandinavian fashion and fashion bloggers. Even my all time favourite Maren started with a fashion blog. There's something special about Scandinavia. be it hygge, the almond cake or IKEA. There's simplicity, there's nature and there's modernity - all seen in fashion, interior design and even architecture. Simple and far from being sophisticated yet eye-catching. And while the whole world is trying to keep you occupied with constantly changing trends, Scandinavian design seems to be the safe harbour offering peace and eternal silence.
100 years ago Finland gained independence. To celebrate the centenary year of freedom, there are Echoes. 100 years of independence means 100 years of design and architecture and that's what Echoes are all about. The so called best of the best of Finnish design, featuring marimekko and Minna Parikka (the one behind the crazy bunny sneaks) is to be seen until February, 23rd at POLIN in Warsaw (the admission is free!). The exhibition is divided into 8 sections which stand for the constituents of daily life in Finland. The first introductory board mentions bridges between the past and the present, shedding light on both the similarity and the differences between design and architecture. And this is what Echoes is all about: finding beauty in tradition and simplicity while giving it modern twists and edgy touches.
Come and see before it's gone and the closest you're gonna get to Scandinavian design is H&M or cheap cutlery at IKEA.
tradition.
In Finland, the appreciation for self-made things and traditional manual skills had been, and still is alive and strong. The handicraft subjects taught in primary school have guaranteed for over a century that all Finns are equipped with the skills of making things by hand. *
*the tradition board
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