II. Main Cultural products 6. Arts and Crafts Section 6.2: Kalevala Arts and Tourists

6.2.3. Arts and Crafts and the National Image

Everything that was made more than 150 years ago was made by hand. People have developed their skills from generation to generation.

Today, throughout the world, people can buy factory made and designed products. All items and things have their value that is both economical and subjective. Factory-made well designed and sustainably produced goods are acceptable for most of tourists. Handmade antiquities and classics are more valuable. All the products on the market get their correct price and that is the highest price the client is ready to pay for it.

Previously, goods were made for the needs of the people or for sacred purposes. The ancient people knew that for a hard winter or for travelling distances energy was required and no extra things were carried. During wintertime people did not waste energy unnecessarily in the cold weather, people stayed indoors and during the winter periods the older people made handicrafts and taught the youngsters important traditional skills. Also then people wanted to make goods that were not only practical but also beautiful. Finland's oldest handicrafts have been found in the Karelian Isthmus Antrea. Here they found fishing nets which have been dated as being 8300 years old. Fishing equipments have changed over generations, but the industry has made the modern fishing tools such as trawling nets tools that cause overfishing.

In Kirkkonummi Jean Sibelius discovered a rock painting showing a fishing net, this picture now adorns t-shirts which can be bought from amongst other places in the Finnish National Museum.

The people who lived in the north lived in a severe climate, alongside with animals and animal spirits. The Arctic people lived under the northern sky, with the Great Bear constellation of Ursa Major above them. The word "Arctic" in Ancient Greek means the land of the north, the unknown, dark and cold regions. "Arctos" is also part of the Latin name for the bear Ursus arctos. The bear has been the central deity of the Finnish people in ancient times.

When a bear was seen in areas of human settlements, it was said that the forest had moved. It was believed that to ensure good hunting and a plentiful of game, the people would have to respect the forest. After a good hunt the hunters would leave a part of the kill for the forest spirits and  take only a part of the kill for themselves. At present, a tax inspector in Finland is called a tax bear who takes a part of your income and, if you have not paid your bills, they will be claimed back by the bear. Killing the strongest creature of the forest was also a rite, where strength and skill was tested. This was also believed to be a rite in which men's fitness and skill were tested. In Finland the belief that the bear's penis bone, paws and teeth held magical powers continued well into the 1800-1900's. Even though Christianity did not tolerate these superstitions, people still used these objects as charms, hanging them on, for example, their sleighs or horse bridles.

Ancient findings have been an inspiration for the modern-day tourists when planning programmes and tourism objects. The copies of rock paintings found around Finland have been reproduced on a wide range of products. At Ristiina in South Savo archeologists have found Scandinavia's largest rock painting, measuring fifteen meters wide which dates from about 3800 B.C. The Ristiiina Astuvansalmi female hunter depicted in the painting is now the symbol of the South-Savo Regional Council and a tourism symbol. The figure is also depicted on a number of goods such as t-shirts, earrings, brooches and house mats.

Museum shops around the world sell ancient forms of design for modern human customers. These objects become contemporary human relics, but a large amount of this cargo is rubbish and ends up going to the rubbish dumps. For example, the Salvation Army flea markets receive large amounts of unwanted souvenirs, and the Salvation Army’s landfill costs are EUR 60,000 per year.

The souvenir products that can be found for sale are a part of a brand, the image of Finland. Finland is famous for its design and is the home of many famous designers and architects. The image of Finland to the Finns is an important and sensitive issue. In 1851, Finland participated in the World Exhibition held in London as a part of the Russian department, as at this time Finland was a part of the Russian Empire. The Finnish department featured "candles, seeds, and fabrics." But the department was poor and void. The journalist and Finnish activist Zacharias Topelius urged Finland to participate also in the next London show, declaring: "Will Finland be there, taking its place among the nations, or is it going to stay at home, because of the shame, or because it just cannot get things done." Only six Finnish companies took part among the 700 Russians of the department at the next London exhibition and Topelius was also present. The liberal Swedish speaking industrialists and the Finnish unanimous party were completely different strains of the official Finnish image. Swedish speaking Finns wanted to highlight the links to Scandinavia, but Finnish speaking Finns felt that this would destroy the people's genuine culture and morality. The Swedish liberals despised the emphasis on Finnish culture: "We have to be careful about exhibiting Finland as only an ethnographical museum, birch bark containers, skis and sledges, javelins in a promised land, after all, we have already developed from the far gone era of birch bark containers ...” At the Stockholm exhibition of 1866, the Finnish Section took on the appearance of a "poor cousin", the Finnish delegation complained that the department lacked any elegance: "A few bottles of turpentine and a cigar box on the table, four straw hat configurations, gloves, leather, saddles, carts, a few ancient stone tools, matches, iron ingots, and timber. "(Smeds, 1992). Rural and urban Finland were sharply conflicting: "Ancient Finno-Ugric coloured bath towels cannot possibly be privileged to become the basic model for adored beauty” wrote the Finsk Tidskrift journal. The debate began, however, concerning the old Finnish myths and a new distinctive language of forms, which differed from other countries. The Finnish Tourist Association won first prize for a large exhibition wall design in Paris in 1889, in which  Finland’s exotic nature and countryside was featured.

At the Paris Exposition in 1900, Finland boldly introduced its own Finnish design. Russia could not block the Finnish participation in the exhibition in their own department thanks to the diplomacy of Commissioner and artist Albert Edelfelt. "The Finns are the only nation whose pavilion raises in the artistic sense an impression of complete national life. It is a very energetic and determined cultural work. The Finnish pavilion is a proof that the good taste of its organization inspires appreciation and sympathy to a nation whose freedom and unique characteristics are threatened and which it presents in the spiritual area so boldly.” This was written in the Berliner Tageblatt during the Paris Exposition in 1900.

The Exhibition pavilion was designed by architects Saarinen, Lindgren and Gesellius. The interior was designed by Akseli Gallen-Kallela. Finland's image was built by the leading edge of experts of the day.

“Paint more fish on the ice so that the catch does not look too small”, Edelfelt advised artist Juho Rissanen, who described the Finnish country life in his works. The only female artist presented in Paris was Venny Soldan-Brofeldt. Finland  during the exhibition received a lot of sympathy for its independence drive. The guest-book, for example, shows remarks made by writers Emile Zola, Honore Balzac and Anatole of France who were in favor of the rights of Finland to be released from the repression of Russian power.

6.2.2. The Sauna and The Souvenirs

Section 6.3: Time is Money