Hanaholmen Art Park – Gunvor Kronman’s pride and joy

Gunvor’s first experience of Hanaholmen was when she was 17, while participating in a youth parliament event there. It was there that Gunvor met young people from all around the Nordics and got her first touch into Sámi culture. 

Swedish was familiar to her since childhood, partly due to her Ostrobothnian roots and her bilingual family. A life away from Finland fascinated her, and she had pen pals all over the world.

“When I was very young, I found an interest in the world outside Finland, even if I never got to travel any further than Sweden. We never travelled, not that we could have afforded to anyway.” 

Her opportunity would come as a university student, when she finally landed a job in Denmark. All of a sudden, more than two decades passed in interesting positions, both in Finland and around the world, before she would land in Hanaholmen. 

Denmark expected a Gunnar

Gunvor has excellent knowledge of the Nordics and their languages. Denmark, in particular, is what Gunvor is familiar with, as she lived there for years, both to study, work, and to raise a family. All that started with a summer job application, for a forklift driver in Denmark, of all things.

“That process created a bit of a misunderstanding: they thought my name was Gunnar instead of Gunvor. They'd thought that I was a man and, to be honest, I hadn’t understood the job I’d been hired for, that is, a forklift operator at a central warehouse of a grocery chain. I was neither a man nor did I have a driving licence, and there wasn’t even a women’s locker room there. However, I did learn how to operate a forklift and found my inner Dane.”

There’s not a lot that scares the Hanaholmen CEO, as she’s been through a lot during her career. While Gunvor was a student, she worked as a journalist while studying Nordic languages, Swedish literature, philosophy, development geography and African studies, eventually completing her MBA degree. 

“I was working on a documentary for MTV in Sudan, where we were imprisoned. That was a traumatic experience. It was my first gig, and I was very young. After that, I spent time in Rwanda during the genocide, as well as in Sierra Leone and Liberia,” says Gunvor. 

Before coming to Hanaholmen, Gunvor had worked for the Red Cross in Finland and abroad and was an advisor for the Nordic Council in Copenhagen. Hanaholmen was supposed to be a temporary position, but it's ended up lasting for more than two decades.

“I’d just turned forty and had worked for the Red Cross for a long time, thinking I’d be there forever. After all, such a large organisation would always have something interesting going on somewhere in the world. I then started to feel that Nordic cooperation was also important and decided that I’d be here for a year or few. Or twenty-three, as it's turned out.” 

Hanaholmen is a cooperation and cultural centre as well as a hotel. A CEO’s work is mostly about networking.

“We work with various government as well as associations, the private sector, and the authorities. No day is the same, except for a lot of meetings. In our rapidly changing world, preparedness and improving resilience have been recent key factors. There’s always something new, with no change of getting bored.” 

Hanaholmen was specifically made for cooperation. 

“What capacity we don’t need, we sell to external customers.”

One definite source of joy in Gunvor’s working day is art – and there's no shortage of it in Hanaholmen, both inside and in the surrounding garden. To prepare for Finland’s 100-year independence celebrations, Hanaholmen saw renovations in 2015–2017, with the aim to make better use of the island. 

“The idea was to make this place into a new, interesting and attractive destination that people would want to visit just for the art. That’s something I am truly proud of, as we do have a lot of high-quality contemporary art from the Nordics. Almost all the works have been created by first selecting an artist, who has then been allowed to choose a spot on the island to put their art. Seasons are the theme at Hanaholmen Art Park, and many of the works show a different face at different times of year.”

There are more than 300 works of art at Hanaholmen, many of which are indoors.

More on the works of art at Hanaholmen.(external link, opens in a new window)

Eventually the interview turns to the Swedish Week. Swedish Week always takes place in November in connection with the celebration of Finnish Swedish Heritage Day on 6 November. 

“The Swedish Week is an important week for Finland’s Swedish-speaking population and an important avenue for highlighting Swedish language and culture. It is a time to feel connected to the community. Hanaholmen is Finland’s cooperation centre with Sweden. We also run a major project, Svenska nu, which exposes Finnish schools to Swedish language and culture.” 

Gunvor admits to being surprised at how many cultural events in Swedish there are in the CultureEspoo programme this November. She is a regular at Espoo’s cultural offerings, no matter the language.

“I’ve been to see lots of theatre plays, as & Espoo Theatre’s programme is very international and interesting. They put on many Nordic shows every year.” 

In addition to & Espoo Theatre, Gunvor often goes to EMMA Espoo Museum of Modern Art, Kino Tapiola, or just for a simple lounge at a library. 

“Earlier this year, I also went to the Espoo Cultural Centre to listen to Niko Ahvonen.” 

Gunvor wants to highlight the following events in the CultureEspoo programme this November: 

Howard Smith (EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art from 5 September 2026 to 7 February 2027)

“I knew Howard Smith, but perhaps more as a sculptor, and hadn’t realised that his art was so broad. The entire Exhibition Centre is so fascinating to me.”

Council: Pekka Kuusisto & Gabriel Kahane (Espoo Cultural Centre, Sunday, 1 November)

“Pekka Kuusisto, he’s my favourite.” 

Lasse Mårtenson In Memoriam: Night by the sea (Sello Hall, Wednesday, 4 November)

This year is the tenth anniversary of the passing of beloved film composer, pianist and jazz singer Lasse Mårtenson (1934–2016). Composer and conductor Johanna Almark used to perform as his favourite singer. Night by the sea is Almark's bilingual (FI/SE) concert, which features Mårtenson’s classics such as Myrskyluodon Maija, Laiskotellen and Kaikki purjehdus on turhaa, with new arrangements by Almark for the string quartet and percussion.

“If I were you and had time, I would definitely go to this one.” 

Cinema: Kevlar Soul (Kannusali, 4 November)
Maria Eriksson-Hecht’s directorial debut won Sweden's Guldbagge Award for Best Director. The film is in Swedish with Finnish subtitles.

“We hold free screenings of Nordic cinema every other month at Hanaholmen.” 

Knitting Panic – Knitting for Beginners! (Lippulaiva library on Tuesdays, 3, 10, 17 and 24 November) 

“I loved handicrafts when I was young. It looks like Espoo organises guided knitting sessions like this. If I had the time, I would join. I’d love to refresh my knitting skills.”

See what else is going on in the CultureEspoo event programme.

Check out our previous culture picks at espoo.fi/en/culture-picks


 

Text: Sanna Uuksulainen