The exhibition How We See the Finns? - Finland: A Hungarian Perspective, which runs from June 27 until November 28, 2010, moves beyond the 300 or so words which Finns and Hungarians share to examine "sauna", "Lakeland", "Kalevala", "Nokia" and many others. The show is not stretched too thin, but the material it does present is richly illustrated.
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Some of the connections made in the exhibition are tenuous, such as that between traditional rúni songs and contemporary Finnish heavy metal, as well as that between rubber boots and mobile telephones. (Visitors to the show will learn that Nokia made rubber boots and cable before it started turning out mobile handsets.) Far better displayed is the relationship between Finnish folk dress and contemporary fashion design.
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"How We See the Finns addresses the issue of tradition, acquainting the visitor both with how the Finns have viewed tradition over the years, and with how Finnish tradition is seen by Hungarians. Is tradition - or the lack thereof - the driving force in social organisation? What is the relationship between tradition and (post)modernism?" the museum says on its website.
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The exhibition's chief curator is Zsuzsanna Szarvas.
Author: Eszter Götz / Photo: Bálint Fejér
