English
Going to Helsinki is a good idea for the end of autumn, a cosmopolitan city which also, for its low buildings, its parks and the sea, offers itself intimate and welcoming, especially for those of us who don´t like high seasons and prefer to visit cities at those times which we can mix with the locals.
Among the places you can´t miss visiting are the Kiasma Contemporary Art Museum and, in November, the proposals are unmissable. On the 27th of November, an exhibition which has been on since April is closing: ARS 11. ARS 11 is an exhibition which investigates contemporary art in Africa, both from artists who love on that continent as from artists who are descendants from African countries who live around the world. Inside this exhibition, on the weekend of the 5th and 6th, you´ll be able to see ´Exposition Universelle´, a choreographic piece by the excellent and creative French choreographer of Algerian origin Rachid Ouramdane.
With this staging, Ouramdane explores how they reflect ideology in bodies, the human body, as a territory which reproduces patriotic ideals, cultural, political and social concepts according to the society from which it belongs: societies which are conservative, liberal, revolutionary or any other type which construct an image which is seen in bodies and individuals.
Unfolding live music and a particular design of lights and video images, his unipersonal performance tries to put in crisis the naturalization of the official aesthetics which dominate the bodies at the same time that they discover and denounce the scars that history leaves on these bodies. Jean-Baptiste JUlien is the composer and interpret who´s in charge of the music.
Finally, encompassed in the same exhibition and with free entrance, the last three open talks of the series ´The Age of Africa´.
Dr. Timo Kallinen will talk about the African chief from the time of neoliberalism (November 3rd), Dr. Lotta Aunio will talk on the urbanization of African languages (November 10th), and the lecturer of the University of Helsinki, Annika Teppo, will talk about African cities in a dialogue between modernity and tradition (November 17th).
And well, of course, we can state the obvious: don´t forget to visit the Kauppatori walk (Market Square) in front of the sea. There you can have lunch and buy fresh fish, vegetables and more. And from there, maybe after having sampled a delicious dish, take the ferry to Suomenlinna, an island declared World Heritage Site by UNESCO, where there´s the old city fotrtress.
And, also, a relaxing stop in a sauna. They say that, in Finland, there´s a sauna for every three citizens, and even the president Tarja Halonen has her own presidential sauna. In Kallio there´s the only official sauna in Helsinki, Sauna Kotiharju. They say that it´s traditional to leave the sauna and dive into a lake or roll around in the snow, but you can always just take a shower.
In November, make sure you get apartments in Helsinki to enjoy a cosmopolitan and, at the same time, intimate city and also enjoy the performance of the Exposition Universelle by Rachid Ouramdane.
Translated by: aleixgwilliam
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