Girls Club: ArtStars* in Finland

When you travel to Finland, the last thing you need is “The Hip Guide to Helsinki.”

What you do need are friends – girls in the know.

I just jumped ship from Toronto to Finland to kick off the ArtStars* Odyssey, a world tour to uncover the 7 Unsolved Mysteries of the Art World for my web show.

And what mysteries there are – from basement galleries to underground comic scenes – Helsinki is the next Brooklyn and we were there to cover it all.

Should you ever find yourself in the land of the midnight sun (no jokes: it’s sun, all summer), these are the superwomen who saved our asses from tourist hell. They forever have our official ArtStars* Approval.

1. Hannaleena Heiska

Back when ArtStars* was in computer land in Toronto, Hannaleena was our best map sista. The Helsinki-based painter and music scene maverick was the best at filling us in on where to shop and all the best saunas. Props to the Heiska for being our first friend in Finland, for reaching out with a thousand links and veering away from the tacky and overplayed. Her next show is at Gallery Kalhama & Piippo Contemporary in September, where she is showcasing a new film featuring dancers, amusement parks and the Kallio art district.

2. Julia Wiræus

While reporting outside of Galleri Bergman, I had someone approach me – strange in the land of timid Finns. It was Julia. “Where are you from?” she asked, and we’ve been friends ever since. The print and broadcast journalist who is a film critic for Filmjournalen and a city culture reporter for YLE (sort of the CBC of Finland) gave us the who’s-who in clubland. Julia is originally from Uppsala, Sweden, but grew up speaking Finnish – about 5% of Swedes have Finnish as a mother tongue and 5% of Finns have Swedish as a mother tongue. Oh, let’s make out already.

3. Minna Parikka

This shoe designer and fashion world diva is well-versed in the runway world – she knows how to walk the walk, and it isn’t just the heels that have graced the pages of ELLE and Italian Vogue. A true business woman who checks her phone more than her hair, we took a ferry together from Helsinki to Suomenlinna Island for a picnic where she filled us in on her new spring/summer collection (shoes with hot lips, gloves with spill marks and little black dresses). She spent a chunk of time in London, Milan and Barcelona, having lived in London for school, so ask her to reminisce and nothing will stop her trot.

4. Erika Erre

She has draped an electronic toy dog in fresh lamb’s meat, poured out piles of sugar onto gallery floors and collects knives from flea markets – but art aside, Erika Erre, a master’s student at the Finnish Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki and a member of an artist-run space called Oskasenkatu 11, is an art opening scenester who knows everyone. She swept me into her industrial Vallila district studio and stumbled with me into the Sinebrychoff park (a park which is informally a perpetual booze picnic after 7 p.m). By far the nicest person I met in Finland, her next show will be at Huuto Viiskulma this August. Watch out for more meat, sugar and urban interventions – in black hats.

5. 1-800-MOM

Everyone needs a mom away from home and Sari Pesonen, a communications and culture rep with the Embassy of Finland, deserves a Mother’s Day card for putting up with ArtStars*. This art maven gives the best hugs and rocks clogs like nobody’s business. She recommends the best art museums, the best martinis and refuses to pay cover at heavy metal festival after parties. Peek into her picnic basket and you’ll find sticks of reindeer, cranberry crackers and organic butter. Sari loves the drama of ArtStars* drama – and without drama – we’d be nothing at all.

*snap*