Wife carrying, gay art, and propensity for suicide typify Finland at Brussels EU exhibition
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By Petteri Tuohinen in Brussels
Did you know that a funeral home in Berlin offers Germans cremations at half-price in the Czech Republic, or that Lithuania has the highest suicide rate in the European Union, or that Slovenia’s 50,000 Muslims have been asking for a mosque for more than 30 years?
All of these tidbits of information, as well as Europe’s whole history are on display at the Rotonde Schuman (Schuman Roundabout) in the middle of the EU Quarter in Brussels, in an exhibition tent sponsored by the European Commission and The Netherlands, the current holder of the EU Presidency.
Designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, the presentation gives the history of the origins of the world and the EU, as well as a review of special characteristics of each member state. Also on display is the legislation of the whole EU in a single volume, about 470 centimetres thick.
In the "European Image" tent, Finland is portrayed as a competitive forerunner of high technology, where the suicide rate is exceptionally high in spite of the high level of well being.
Characteristics of the Finns include a love for the sauna, and a propensity for strange world records and competitions, such as wife-carrying, air guitar playing, and mobile telephone phone throwing. Also included is the classical Finnish saying concerning the sauna, alcohol, and tar (if they don’t heal you, the disease is incurable).
In the accompanying collage of pictures much of the viewers’ attention is drawn to the caricatures of gay men by Tom of Finland, involving raunchy sex. However, there is no actual mention of the world-famous Finnish illustrator himself.
Ambassador Eikka Kosonen at Finland’s Permanent Representation to the European Union saw the pictures as a manifestation of "artistic freedom". He said that the Representation had not been contacted about Koolhaas’ pictures on Finland.
"I wouldn’t say that it (homosexuality) is the most typical essence of Finnish culture. Perhaps Koolhaas has looked for some kind of liberal-mindedness in this", Kosonen says.
A British couple at the exhibit made note of Finland’s high suicide rate, the mention of the Monty Python song Finland, Finland, the small number of asylum applications that are accepted, and the size of Nokia’s annual turnover compared with the Finnish state budget.
"Quite impressive", the British husband says about the size of Nokia.
At the Lithuanian exhibit, he is shocked to see that the Lithuanians commit suicide even more frequently than the Finns do.
"This is something that I have to tell my Finnish friends!"
The Finnish language gets some undeserved attention. At the Polish exhibit, the titles of the film trilogy by Krzysztof Kieslowski, Blue, White, and Red, are written in Finnish.
In addition to tidbits of information, such as "Finns have sex more often than Swedes", the exhibit goes through the development of Europe to its current state in a concentrated, but nevertheless interesting manner.
Koolhaas explains laconically how it all began: First World War - 20 million killed, Second World War - 50 million killed.
After the bloodbaths there were moves to bind the European countries so close together in cooperation within a Coal and Steel Community that war would become impossible.
The part on recent European history concludes by noting that many European countries ignored public opinion and went to war against Iraq against the wishes of their citizens.
Koolhaas also lets his imagination run wild in his visions of the future: in 2007 Bulgaria and Romania will join the EU, as well as Norway, Switzerland, Iceland, and Croatia. In 2012 the EU will approve Chinese as an official language, and in 2015 the EU will expand all the way to Tunisia and Libya.
In addition to these tongue-in-cheek visions, Koolhaas makes note of the dark clouds that hang over Europe. In 2030 the Europeans’ average age will be 54, and one third of the population will be over 65 years of age.
To defuse the population bomb, Koolhaas proposes the "Irish model" - an effort to encourage people to have babies, and the recruitment of immigrants to Europe.
Not everyone who saw the exhibition was convinced.
"Interesting. I’ll have to come again so that the meaning might open up", wrote one visitor from Jyväskylä in the guest book.
The exhibition, The Image of Europe, will be open until November 28.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 15.9.2004
PETTERI TUOHINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
petteri.tuohinen@hs.fi
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| 21.9.2004 - THIS WEEK |
 Wife carrying, gay art, and propensity for suicide typify Finland at Brussels EU exhibition |
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