Finnish art photography is one of the most successful items of cultural export in Europe. Now, for the first time, the internationally acknowledged artists are gathered together in one exhibition. The extensive exhibition of photography "The Helsinki School" presents works from over 30 different artists who have been studying or teaching at TaiK, the University of Art and Design in Helsinki. The exhibition will continue in September 2005 at Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin. The project includes a website and a book. Curator: Timothy Persons, University of Art and Design in Helsinki: "By definition The Helsinki School does not exist as an institution. It is not defined by a nationality or specific discipline. It is an approach that has evolved out of a process of teaching where the emphasis is centered on critique, cooperation and the sharing of ideas, where theory meets reality and each generation is given the chance and the time to invent themselves. We can teach how to look but how should we listen to those eternal debates about what is good enough comes with the experience of asking. To unfold the answers to those questions is to touch upon one’s personal poetry not as a narrative, but the spark that is reflected from within the idea from which the work has come. By learning to ask those difficult questions an unintentional competition arises between what is considered to be good work and how far it can be pushed to become something much better. Creating an environment where these dialogues can be shared, pushed and eventually measured is what we at the University of Art and Design, Helsinki Finland, have worked so diligently to achieve. Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Esko Männikkö, Jan Kaila and Eija-Liisa Ahtila have brought the world’s attention to Finland through the brilliance of their works. We at the university through a site specific virtual gallery (TaiK), have taken a selection of our best teachers, post graduates and students to the world via the international art fairs, museums and foreign galleries. This professional studies program was designed and started by myself in 1995. I have had the pleasure to learn that if a small photographic department through a virtual gallery from a university in a country of five million people can reach to the highest levels of excellence in the world of photography anything is possible. Knowledge is a door that swings both ways between the student and the teacher. If we learn from each other how to touch those dreams within us and share them through the lens of our perspective, we build our future through a sensibility where the works become the spectators of the ideas from which they come. It has been my priviledge to have been a part of so many new arenas of thoughts." ________________ Personligt - Fotografier från The Helsinki School Finsk fotografi har under de senaste tio åren fått enorm uppmärksamhet, inte minst internationellt. Framgången beror till stor del på skolans nytänkande som genererar fotografer i världsklass. Personligt presenterar tre generationer fotografer från The Helsinki School med deras bästa verk. I vår har Kulturhuset Stockholm det stora nöjet att presentera fotografer som: Nanna Hänninen, Tiina Itkonen, Sandra Kantanen, Ola Kolehmainen, Jorma Puranen och Santeri Tuori. Gemensamt för de sinsemellan olika konstnärerna är att de tycks drivas av en passion att leka med kameran och med vårt seende. Detta är en lustfylld och humoristisk utställning som hyllar fotografiet och fotografins möjligheter. Curator: Timothy Persons, University of Art and Design in Helsinki. Utställningen är producerad av Kulturhuset i samarbete med Finlands ambassad.