Carl Nilsson-Polias

Right, a few more observations and jolly anecdotes that i forgot to share las time round. It’s gone all drizzly and overcast here, it’s too early for anything to be open apart from the Swedish resource centre (i’m speaking swedish to fit in) and so, yeah, i’m back at the keyboard.

I popped into the Contemporary Art Musuem yesterday arvo. Helsinki/Finland seems to have quite the vibrant scene going at the moment … there were displays of photographs of current artists inside the gallery (examining the relationship between the artist, their art, their life and modes of representation) and outside the gallery there were some art students and a lecturer making some kind of video piece involving various objets trouvés. the works inside varied from the lighthearted(a sled -spark- covered in a woolly red knitted cover) to the odd (a display of 25 urns each containing a particular scent) to the interactive (photos of esoteric objects that people could write letters to the photographer about, explaining how they were linked to the photo, thus winning a copy of the photo and having their letter added to the artwork). There was some kind of special event going on (free entry after 5pm) and so there were all sorts of beautiful Helsinkians bearing their iBooks and artistic integrity under each arm.

As i made my way back to the hostel, i noted that my little ‘what’s on’ guide book told me that ’swan lake’ was playing at the opera. i sauntered in, passed the awesome coat stalls (about the size of a small supermarket) and was promptly told that there were no tickets left. Ah, well, you can’t say i don’t try to be properly cultured (like a fine yoghurt). So, i walked out the other entrance and passed more beautiful Helsinkians with their blonde children and joie de vivre. Within ten metres, however, the streetscape changed dramatically. Gone were the pastel coloured shirts by Italian designers and the subtle fragrances of lavendar and roses. In their place were really bad denim/corduroy jacket and pants ensembles, cheap black leather jackets with jeans and thick black shoes, long hair was everywhere and the yeasty odour of beer washed over me. Before me, a great swarm of rockers and faux-goths milled around the olympic stadium, talking on mobile phones, drinking ale and the like. Of course! i knew there was going to be a Metallica concert tonight and i should have realised that the stadium was a very likely venue. Anyhoo, i make my way through the crowd and get to a road block at the side of the stadium. The police could obviously smell foreigner on me because they barely gave me a second look as i stepped over the tape to continue on my way to the hostel. There’s another crowd of hevay metal heads on the other side of the stadium as well and the wailing guitars and thumping bass of the sound check echo unevenly off the adjacent aquatic centre and soccer grounds. I step into the hostel to the welcome sound of very-muted Metallica (the concrete grand stand does quite the insulating job) and head to my room. I still haven’t properly adjusted myself to the time zone so i went to bed at around 8 or 9pm and managed to sleep through the entire concert.

The next morning it was not without slight surprise that i opened my eyes to the sight of the Helsinki chapter of the Neo-Nazi party slumbering away in the six bunks opposite me. Indeed, the five bunks (not containing me) on my side of the room were likewise filled with muscular, pale skinheads. Obviously, they’d been to last night’s concert and i had been wondering how long it would take me to see an example of this prevalent Scandinavian counterculture that keeps alive the tradition of racial intolerance that is as old as the fjords here in Aryan-central. With my current skintone and haircut i could pass myself off as a member, so i wasn’t overly concerned, though i did take down my signed posters of Tel Aviv United and Klezmer All-Stars and hid them under my mattress. I left my stormtrooper friends to their sleep and slipped out into the drizzle of a cool Saturday morning……

Just a few quickies:

1. Mobile phones outnumber people in this country, you can even buy bus tickets using SMS.

2. There are a lot of outdoor cafes around. they all tend to face the sunny side and all the chairs are lined up facing the street/sun so that walking past the people there makes one feel quite ‘on display’. i did sling my jacket over my shoulder, strut slightly (more than usual) and turn for thre cameras at the end but they didn’t give me a round of applause, in fact they didn’t give a shit.