All posts filed under: Culture

A Letter to Helsinki

Dear Helsinki, visiting you made me thoughtful. You surprised me with your Street Art District, you frightened me with your massive buildings in Katajanokka and you touched my heart with your peculiar language. All these long words and names that I was unable to keep in mind and every time Aleksi* asked me where I’d spent the day I had to describe the place because I had already forgotten its name again. The only Finnish words I could remember were “Kiitos” (Thank you) and “Moi” (Hello) – they were short enough. 😉 *Aleksi was my wonderful Airbnb host – I will tell you more about him below. The trip was very different from what I had expected. I wanted to visited the “Helsinki Design Week” but then everything turned out differently: I arrived with stomach ache and a general feeling of illness which forced me to slow down and listen to my body carefully. Instead of entering the fray I tried to avoid crowded places. I walked along Helsinki’s lakes and sea-coast ate a lot …

Kuala Lumpur and the Batu Caves

When I woke up the first morning in Kuala Lumpur there was a heavy thunderstorm passing by and I could hear an alarm bell from the inside of the hostel. I quickly jumped into my pants and opened the door of our female dorm. The hostel’s courtyard, a wonderful open-air common area, was flooded and the staff was trying to keep the water from entering the kitchen. I went back into my room to take a look out of the window – the streets were flooded too and the cars were driving through brown masses of water. Welcome to Asia, I thought, this is what monsoon season looks like. Downstairs in the kitchen area I met Rodrigo – a Brazilian photo- and videographer with fascinating blue-green eyes. It was just after I left KL that I realised what a talented man I had met. Equipped with different cameras and even a drone he creates stunning pictures and videos from around the globe. 🙂 For example this one: “Created with footage shot in 8 countries in …

PROPORTIO or “The art of curating”

As a Graphic Designer I’m always looking for interesting exhibitions on my travels. In Venice I found a very special one: PROPORTIO. The exhibition was located in an old impressive Palazzo close to the Canal Grande in Campo San Beneto – The Palazzo Fortuny. The special thing about the Palazzo as a stage of art is that the rooms and structures of and within the building are still as they were created by Mariano Fortuny, the former owner of the Palazzo. Mister Fortuny was an extraordinary man himself,