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| Ragnar Kjartansson "Scandinavian Pain" at Kiasma (Dec 2019 in Helsinki, Finland) |
Making favourites lists seems futile. However, I looked back at the posts I had made about 2015, 2017 and 2018 and I enjoyed them. (I don’t know what happened in 2016. :))
I’m greedy. I have this feeling that I could do more and see more, always. At the same time I can’t recall many wonderful things I have seen and heard. I crave for a time out. And then some of my favourite moments are as random as a pitstop at a roadside market looking at the photos of local heroes and cheerleaders.
Rambling aside, here are some of the most memorable experiences of 2019.
MUSIC/albums
- (Sandy) Alex G “House of Sugar”
- James Blake “Assume Form”
- Lana Del Rey “Norman Fucking Rockwell”
- The National “I Am Easy to Find”
I have this underlying fear that what if I never listen to anything new again. Like I am too tired. I wanna cling to the familiar (I mean, if I love something then I love something). But thankfully life always throws a curveball (is it really a curveball if it seems to happen always?!). Apart from the albums mentioned I listened to a bunch of different artist. And of those four two are new loves - never before had I been sucked into Lana Del Rey’s world so completely. And Alex G is just a new kid on the block for me.
MUSIC/concerts
- (Sandy) Alex G (Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, USA, 29 Oct)
- Courtney Barnett (Huvila-teltta, Helsinki, Finland, 26 Aug)
- Father John Misty (Flow Festival, Helsinki, Finland, 11 Aug)
- The Holy (Huvila-teltta, Helsinki, Finland, 26 Aug)
- James Blake (Flow Festival, Helsinki, Finland, 11 Aug)
- Mitski (Flow Festival, Helsinki, Finland, 11 Aug)
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| Holiday Lights (Dec 2019 in Helsinki, Finland) |
ART/exhibitions
- Anja Niemi “In Character” (Fotografiska, Tallinn, Estonia)
- David Jiménez (Sala Canal de Isabel II, Madrid, Spain)
- Darío Villalba (Sala Alcalá 31, Madrid, Spain)
- Karoliina Hellberg (Didrichsen Art Museum, Helsinki, Finland)
- Ragnar Kjartansson “The Visitors” (Kiasma, Helsinki, Finland)
Let’s be clear now - Ragnar stole my heart in 2019! He had me first hooked in 2014. And I mean, stealing my heart with video art is mission impossible to begin with.
ART/museums&galleris
- Oakland Museum of California (Oakland, USA)
- Pier 24 Photography (San Francisco, USA)
- SFMOMA (San Francisco, USA)
I had to make these subcategories, because during my trip to San Francisco I visited three spectacular places. Oakland Museum of California is probably the overlord of all museums, because it beautifully combines art, history and nature. Not the mention the temporary Burning Man exhibition. Got a feeling that if Burning Man were a baby it definitely grew up being nothing like its parents had imagined. I’d like to place my bets when will it turn into a soccer mom retreat (how crude!). But I mean, it was a wonderful museum experience. And Pier 24 is the make believe wonderland for anyone interested in photography. Say, even if you hate photography it probably has something for you. All hail! (in all sincerity!)
ART/experience
- Leonardo da Vinci “Lady With an Ermine” (National Museum, Krakow, Poland)
Because you can’t visit Krakow without encountering the painting in all forms all over the town. To be fair, it was nice (my heart rarely beats an extra beat for art from that era, so I mean, it was great success). I choose to tell how it is my favourite da Vinci painting (not that I have seen that many of those). I think that will make me an astonishing conversationalist and a hit at all social gatherings.
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| Lasipalatsi (Dec 2019 in Helsinki, Finland) |
VARIA
I discovered Sally Rooney (I read night and day wishing there were more books by her) and Alexander Chee ("How to Write an Autobiographical Novel" is a gem). I traveled to Northern Spain (Cantabria wins) and Northern California! I’m a Northerner, so much it almost breaks my heart (ah, good old melodrama). Also appreciating the irony that some Norths are so much more sunnier. I have seen the mountains and the ocean - some of my favourite things. And my godson was born! (Disclaimer: it’s a non-religious godparent thing.)
So this is it. In a nutshell. The end. Here's to 2019!
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