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Monday, February 13, 2012

Finlandia Gallery to exhibit work by Aimo Hyvärinen, Finnish photographer

Photography by Aimo Hyvärinen. (Poster courtesy Finlandia University)

HANCOCK -- The Finlandia University Gallery will present an exhibit of work by Finnish photographer Aimo Hyvärinen from Feb. 16 to March 20, 2012.

An opening reception for the artist will take place from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16. An artist talk will begin at 7:15 p.m. The reception is free and open to the public; refreshments will be served.

Hyvärinen was ten years old when his godmother gave him his first photo album. Using his brother’s Kodak Brownie, and later his own Agfa Instamatic camera, Hyvärinen filled the album with photographs of snow-covered landscapes.

Hyvärinen’s exhibit at the Finlandia University Gallery, titled "Snow and Ice," combines a selection of these old photographs with some of Hyvärinen’s current work to capture the poetic and synergetic relationship between humans and snow.

Aimo Hyvärinen is also a filmmaker and there will be a special screening of two of his films at the Finnish American Heritage Center at 2 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16. This event is also free and open to the public.

Päijänne Symphony (49 minutes) is a musical documentary about Lake Päijänne, a meeting place for people and nature. It is a positive story of a clean and beautiful lake in the middle of a country. Päijänne is the lake between east and west -- it is the soul of Central Finland. The music presented in the film is in the tradition of Finnish romantic music, which has always had its inspiration in nature. Works performed on strings and piano combine with the cinematography, harkening back to the style of "city symphonies," popular in Finland in the 1920s.

The Spirit of Folk Music (46 minutes) is a documentary film about the growth of the popular spirit of folk music. The film features two festivals; the musicians, organizers and audience are shown at the Viljandi Folk Music Festival and Kaustinen Folk Music Festival during the summer of 2010. The film explores the different ethos of two closely related nations -- Estonia and Finland.

The Finlandia University Gallery is in the Finnish American Heritage Center, 435 Quincy St., Hancock.

For additional information, contact gallery director Carrie Flaspohler at 906-487-7500.

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