HELSINKI- In July and August1975, Helsinki was the capital of Europe for a brief period of time. The summit marking the end of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) gathered the heads of state of 35 countries and their entourages at Finlandia Hall, Helsinki, for a couple of days.

 “After the conference, international media started to talk about ‘the Spirit of Helsinki’, which we chose as the name of our exhibition. It is a joyful revisit to the hot summer days in the ‘70s when little Finland and the shining new Finlandia Hall prepared to receive the heads of state from Europe and the then superpowers. The exhibition tells stories about what happened around the city and with what kind of effort the small country managed to organise such an important event,” said Johanna Tolonen, CEO, Finlandia Hall, about thebackground for the exhibition.

 The 40th anniversary meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, OSCE, in July was recently held at Finlandia Hall, as was the original CSCE summit in 1975. Some 800 attendees were present at the meeting. “The knowledge of the meeting this summer was the catalyst for arranging the exhibition”, Johanna Tolonen continues.

 The archive and press images chosen for the exhibition, as well as the explanatory texts, also shed light on the parallel programmes. For example, Betty Ford, the wife of the President of the United States, Gerald Ford,was present when the leading Finnish fashion houses of the time, Marimekko, Vuokko, Friitala and Polar-Turkis, presented their collections at a fashion show in Restaurant Walhalla on the island fortress of Suomenlinna.

 The famous Finnish cartoonist, Kari Suomalainen, also employed his sharp pen in the CSCE preparations. The symbolic “Direction CSCE” (“Suuntana ETYK”)  image appeared in the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper. Kari was also the person who invented the name “Kekkonen’s fish trap” for Finlandia Hall, which is surrounded by a chain-link security fence, into which the prestigious guests were led. Urho Kekkonen was the charismatic Preident of Finland at the time. The exhibition presents five cartoons on CSCE by Kari.

 The exhibits also feature a collection of trial signatures of the Final Act of the heads of state, recovered from the summit by Ambassador Mikko Pyhälä, who as a young diplomat participated in the arrangements in the CSCE secretariat.

 Italian premier Aldo Moro signed on August 1^st, 1975, the Final Act of Helsinki also as President of the European Communities.

Info:

https://finlandiatalo.fi/en/visitor/restaurant-services/cafe-veranda/galleria-veranda

Exhibition design Zeeland Group / Eija Vierimaa, texts Jukka Juhola

Produced by Finlandia Hall Ltd / coordinator Johanna Saario

CSCE 40-year jubilee exhibition Spirit of Helsinki till 31 August 2015

Gallery Veranda, Finlandia Hall, open Monday–Friday 9am–7pm

Karamzininranta 4, entrance through Café Veranda. Admission free. Tel. +358 9 40 241