Residents of Espoo think back on their home town resulting in new ‘A Glance at Espoo’ book, podcast and media artwork
In 2024, a series of workshops on past memories was held in sheltered housing units and Senioripaku stops in Espoo, where elderly people were able to talk about memories they had of their home town. The material collected was given to an artist who then used it to create a picture book and media art work. A podcast inspired by the book will also be released.
'A Glance at Espoo' is a picture book created by Espoo-born visual artist Jussi Lahtinen. In the book, one double-page spread has been dedicated to each of the major districts in Espoo. Different decades are intertwined in the images in a creative and inspiring way. Ideas for the photographs of the book were collected in reminiscing workshops for elderly people in Espoo.
“Espoo is a rapidly evolving and growing city. That is why it is important that we are also familiar with our history. We truly value the seniors of Espoo sharing their memories,” says Cultural Director Susanna Tommila.
The purpose of the images is to revive memories and simultaneously inspire discussions and new stories. The work is intended for people of all ages.
“The quintessential Espoo identity has many layers. For example, the history of manors and the impact of Swedish-language culture are still visible in contemporary Espoo. When talking about the different areas and places in Espoo, the Finnish- and Swedish-language names are happily mixed together, with the Alberga Manor in Leppävaara as a prime example. Many residents of Espoo have moved to the city from elsewhere in Finland or abroad, and they have brought the influences of their own culture to the city,” says artist Jussi Lahtinen.
The 'Glance at Espoo' book is distributed to sheltered housing units and nursing homes in Espoo. You can also borrow it from libraries in Espoo. The book launch will be celebrated in libraries in Espoo on 12 March–25 March.
Lahtinen has also created the digital Urban AI Art Espoo work that utilises artist-driven AI. In the work, available for viewing online, software produces an endless stream of images of buildings and landmarks selected from various districts in Espoo. The images produced by Urban AI Art Espoo have an element of surprise to them: the work produces a novel landscape of the city each time. Each image is destroyed after being presented. The software used for the work has also been used in the implementation of the illustrations of the Katse Espooseen book.
Click here to view the media artwork.(external link, opens in a new window)
The 'Glance at Espoo' book will also be used to produce a podcast series, which will be released in spring 2025. The series is divided into episodes dedicated to each major district with interviews of people who know each area well. The episodes also include snippets from the reminiscing workshops. As a whole, the podcast is an expedition into the quintessential identity of Espoo.
"A hundred years ago, there were 9,000 residents in Espoo. Today we are the second largest city in Finland with the Finnish ‘Silicon Valley’ and a lot of culture – but Espoo does look like one big forest from an aircraft,” says Sakari Heiskanen, the producer and host of the podcast series.
The book, the media artwork and podcast have partly been made possible with support from the Estradi project funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture.
Welcome to the ‘A Glance at Espoo’ book launch events!
Public book launch events will take place in different parts of Espoo. Read more about the events by clicking the links. The events will be held in Finnish.
Lippulaiva Library Wed 12 March from 18.00 to 19.00
Kalajärve Service Centre, Ruskatalo Thu 13 March from 13.00 to 14.00
Entresse Library Tue 18 March from 13.00 to 14.00
Sello Library Wed 19 March from 18.00 to 19.00