Friday 30 March: Arriving in sunny Helsinki in the afternoon, we do some quick shopping. Nice shoes spotted at Maatilatori Farmers' Market shop in town (left). We then stop at FishMarket for dinner (below) - a slight disappointment as, although the ingredients are fresh and good quality, the flavours are a bit confusing and not so effective. Still, it's good to sit down in a comfy seat and eat some decent food.
Our starter of slightly salted whitefish with pomelo, seaweed and wasabi crème fraîche.	Main course: pike perch with pickled fennel and dark citrus sauce. (Thanks, Hubi, for pointing out that there are 2 bunnies hidden in this dish!)
Saturday 31 March: More shopping, and now time for lunch at Juuri. We order several Sapas (Finnish tapas), which are all delicious. Clockwise from top left: marinated beetroot with goat's cheese, smoked herring tartar with red onion, vendance roe on toast, "pea sticks" with marjoram mayonnaise.
	And we now head for some art at Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma. As you walk up towards the exhibition spaces, you come across this marble "Visitor's Book" - you are asked to touch the stone, which will, over the years, be worn into shape. (Didn't get the name of the artist, unfortunately.) First we look at EYEBALLING! - The New Forms of Comics show - comics in all kinds of formats and media.
	Katja Tukiainen's installation is a bit too sugary for us, except for this unicorn. In the photo it's obvious that the face is projected, but in the actual piece it's very subtle. When you look at the wall and see the eyes moving, you think "?!?!?!?!?!"
Usakousa are fascinated by Tommi Musturi's installation.	The "theatre" rotates slowly, with changing projection and sound in the background. Simple but nice.
Next, Thank You For The Music exhibition, of works inspired by popular music, is much more interesting than we've expected. This is from the series Popular Music Postmortem by Petri Ala-Maunus, in which he tears famous album covers to reveal something else underneath.
As with any international exhibition these days, several artists who are based in Berlin are represented. Danish artist Rose Eken, who made this installation of ceramic objects - recreating a small rock club stage after a show (complete with fag ends, etc.) - must be one of them, as the beer cases are all Berlin beers.
And here are links to some of the videos we enjoyed (opens in a seperate window): Jenni Hiltunen's 24/7 SHIVA. Also by Jenni Hiltunen, a short, non-HD version of GRIND is on YouTube. But this piece is best viewed in HD on a huge screen. CHEERLEADER by Katarzyna Kozyra - featuring the artist as the cheerleader/leader, and directors/curator from the Zacheta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw.
Sunday 1 April: At Helsinki Vantaa Airport, all traffic signs outside the terminal building have concrete bears as bases.	This one's wearing someone's glove as a hat.
And now onto New York...