Lake Keitele

June 16. 2011, 12:28am

Sapokka, Kotka

Suvilahti, Helsinki

Rhododendrons in bloom, Sapokka, Kotka

This squat party was not what I expected!  In England, a squat party would be a Skins style, drug fuelled excuse to wreck things!  But in Finland things are very different!  This was in an abandoned old folks home.  It was meticulously clean, respectful, no graffiti anywhere and with surprises in every room!  The first we found was a CRAFT ROOM!  This picture is my pure excitement at it.  There were piles of materials to craft with, artwork on the walls and signs telling us to create!  Every room had wardrobes full of clothes which were free to take as long as we tidied up afterwards.  There was also an art gallery where you could stick your own things up, a raised bed area full of sleeping bags, a fully stocked kitchen, a fridge people had left their alcohol in (I was stunned, in England the alcohol would be nicked and the fridge wrecked!), a sauna being constantly used, a terrace full of people chilling with instruments and a main room with really awesome bands constantly playing!  It went on for 3 days before the police shut it down, just amazing!  Just awesomely DIY and non-profit arty good fun!

Fin_Sep_06_Aland_005_m1_screen by pntphoto on Flickr.

Lake Keitele

Akseli Gallen-Kallela

1905

The National Gallery