We are FTDA (Finnish Tech Design & Art), a non-profit on a mission to make dreams come true. Our aim is to gather together Finnish creativity and to release it to the world! The House of Finland is our annual event featuring multi-content exhibitions, interactive sessions, concerts – in short the best design experiences Finland has to offer.
Please, step in!
THoF 2017 is part of Finland100NYC
Finland100NYC is an official Suomi 100 project that celebrates Finland’s 100th anniversary in New York City throughout 2017 with various events, the House of Finland art, tech and design festival being one of them.
THoF takes place in Chelsea’s Fine Arts District, at 287 Gallery , 287 10th Ave.
Take a look at the programme and join the fun >>
ARTISTS AND EXHIBITORS
Susanna Sivonen
Susanna Sivonen works mainly on textile design and illustration, but above all, on things that make you smile.
“The real everyday life is a gift. As someone wise said: Happiness is not a destination, it’s a way of life. My way as a designer is to point out little things of normal daily feelings and make art of all the small details there, just because I want to share it, with a smile. I believe in positive things and if my art can share the flow, my way of life is worth a smile.”
Susanna Sivonen was born 1984 in Haparanda, Sweden. She studied her BA in textile design in University of Lapland, Finland. Besides her creative work, she is a mother of four energic little kids. She thinks that it’s because the kids and the hectic daily life, her art is so full of joyfull details and lovely humour. Susanna lives in Oulu, Finland.
GEA
GEA is a stage name for Helsinki based singer-songwriter Laura Avonius. Her debut EP “Pink” (released April 25th 2017) and debut album Butterflies (released September 9th 2017) is based on her collaboration with a multi-talented sound artist, musician and producer Mikko H. Haapoja. GEA debuted live in New York, in November 2016.
GEA’s sound is described to be light and airy, full of magic and mystery. The songs are like the landscape of the singer-songwriters’ native Finland; cool, cascading, vibrant and serene. The songs are based on piano led acoustic instrumentations combined with minimalistic electronic arrangements giving room to the authenticity and rawness of emotions and vocals. There are also some traditional Finnish folk instruments used in a modern context, creating an interesting atmosphere, and giving new life to some almost forgotten instruments. Music bloggers / reviews have compared her to Björk, Kate Bush and Sigur Rós.
Kira Leskinen
Kira Leskinen is a visual artist and photographer from Helsinki, Finland. She holds a master’s degree in photography from Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. For the past couple of years she has been using flatbed scanner as her main tool. Leskinen seeks clear forms. She creates abstract compositions where colors play a key role. Red moves towards, yellow stays still and black becomes a void. In her workprocess she mixes traditional collage-like technique with the possibilities of digital technology. As a result, fascinating distortions and errors occur.
In 2016 Kira Leskinen was selected to the Helsinki School, a group of photography artists curated by Timothy Persons. Since then her work has been exhibited at international art fairs, among others, Paris Photo and ARCO Madrid. In March 2017 Leskinen had her first solo exhibition at Galleria Huuto Uudenmaankatu in Helsinki, Finland. Her work is included in colección olorVISUAL in Barcelona, Spain as well as several private collections both in Finland and abroad.
Oases from HEL
Oases from HEL is a multidisciplinary art project created by media artist Mikko H. Haapoja & musician Amanda Kauranne. Together with Helsinki citizens and visitors, Haapoja & Kauranne are collecting and mapping Helsinki oases and creating a series of audio-visual installations about the boundaries of city life and nature. An essential part of the project is also a web-based map at oasesfromhel.fi, where the growing archive of Helsinki oases is visualized.
In the form of an audio-visual installation, Oases from HEL will travel to Siglufjörður folk music festival on July, Helsinki on late August and New York on September 2017. Inside the installation, one can feel Helsinki urban nature through video projections and soundscapes. The media art is accompanied by musical improvisation of Haapoja & Kauranne and dance improvisation of Helsinki-based German dance-artist Gesa Piper.