Street art in Helsinki, let’s find out what is it like. In this post, I interview Ruusa (Rosa Hultman), who plays a big role in developing the street art culture. You will get to know what is its current state and where should you go, if you want to see street art as a tourist. All is accompanied by hi-res images.

I have always thought that Finland is too conservative for street art. But in recent years, I started noticing new beautiful murals, many tunnels and electricity boxes are now colored. According to Ruusa, street art in Helsinki is at its start, but developing rapidly, the rest of Finland follows up.

Ruusa Art, Interview

In the street art world of Finland you do many things, what are they exactly?

Besides being a street artist, I am the founder of Mimmit female street culture association. I am one of the producers of UPEA, it is an annual street art Festival, which takes place in several cities in Finland. And, I also make Street art tours in Helsinki and do street art workshops.

How did you decide to become a street artist?

By education, I am a graphic designer. I got into graffiti culture about 10 years ago, because, my ex-boyfriend was a graffiti writer. While we were hanging out in public graffiti wall in Kalasatama I gave it a try. That is when I first time tried how the spray paint works, and I have been doing it since.

What do you usually incorporate into your street art?

It depends on the place quite a lot. Sometimes, I just write my name. But mostly, I take something from the place, some associations that come to my mind. In Stockholm, I added some pictures of their currency – Krona. When I was in Vaasa, I added the ferry that goes to Umeå. In Norway, Vikings came to my mind.

Next, can show a wall in Vantaa, I used to pass it by every day when I was 5-11 years old. This is me on the in a pink jacket. The jacket has a story. I liked it very much, but the kids were always reading and shouting my name. I told my mother that I cannot wear it because of this. She removed the letters, but the stitches were still visible. So I never wore it, but when I got to this place – I knew what I am going to paint. There was a white wall in at Inarinkuja street, and it was always bombed*. The owners asked us if we can paint something nice on it, which we did together with Redy, an artist from HK. There are a school and a kindergarten nearby. We wanted to paint something to the whole community especially the kids. * bombed – illegal graffiti was painted

I have always thought that Finland is too conservative for something like street art. Is it changing?

I would say, street art in Finland takes its first baby steps. Before 2008, we had a “zero tolerance” policy. When the ban was lifted, it started to grow, so is the street art culture. People are more open-minded to all graffiti and street art culture. In recent years, we got many legal graffiti walls and (in the past few years,) there have been more and more commission works and murals around Finland. Some people tell that it is a boom.

Let’s clarify, what are the legal walls?

Open walls, legal walls, legal graffiti walls, all means the same. These are the walls, that anyone can paint on (it is illegal to paint on construction walls without permission). When you are finished, you take a photo, and someone else can paint on top. This kind of art doesn’t last. There is a big area in Suvilahti, where temporary construction walls are also legal walls. Around the city, many temporary construction walls have more and more commision works.

What about the larger murals, how do they come to life?

Murals are quite different in nature. We have to ask permission from the city and the city architects want a sketch. They try to see how murals fit into the area. Colors, for example, have to correspond with the nearby buildings.

After seeing the murals, people often ask if their walls can be painted. We sometimes receive orders from people, whose walls were bombed. Then, we discuss with the owners, if they would like to have a nice art instead. If there is something beautiful painted on the wall – it normally does not get bombed so easily. Sometimes it goes another way around, if a street artist sees a good wall, they start a conversation with the owners. Overall, each case is individual.

Can you tell me more about UPEA?

UPEA is the largest art festival in Finland. It is organized every September starting from 2016. In 2016 we only had 3 murals in Helsinki, 9 overall. Now in 2018, we have 20 projects in 12 cities in Finland. We received a very positive feedback for the murals. People really liked them, and they would like to have more. On website we have all the murals and addresses listed: http://www.upeart.com/

Let’s try to make a summary for the tourists, if they want to see street art in Helsinki and beyond, where should they go?

First of all, all the Helsinki murals and small pieces of art are shown on the regularly updated map: http://katutaidehelsinki.fi/ There is also a paper version of a street art guide, that can be picked from a tourist office. But the website has more information. Kallio is a nice place to go, many murals are within walking distance. And then Suvilahti, it is a growing cultural area, with many legal graffiti walls. I make private tours, if you are interested, you can contact me at Ruusa art.

If someone wants to do street art in Helsinki, what should they do?

If you are a street artist in Finland, who doesn’t know their way around, you can contact me. Mimmit peinttaa is a female street art concept. Our main event is held every summer, and other events, projects, and workshops with various women artists are organized throughout the year. We welcome all women who are interested in street art to join our activities. More general advice would be to build up connections. For example, if I go painting to Thailand, I have to check some of the street artists I know. Eventually, I might find someone who has a connection and go paint together.

Follow Ruusa Art

FB @ruusaart https://www.facebook.com/ruusaart/ IG @ruusa_art https://www.instagram.com/ruusa_art/ Ruusa Web Site http://www.ruusaart.com/ (coming soon) Mimmit Web Site http://www.mimmit.net/ FB @mimmitpeintaa https://www.facebook.com/mimmitpeinttaa/ Upeart Web Site http://www.upeart.com/ FB @upeart https://www.facebook.com/upeart/

Street art in Finland, gallery

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