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How to portray Finland without sauna, Kalevala or a flag?

'Spirit of Finland' mural in St. Petersburg symbolises the close connection between culture and nature
Spirit of Finland mural in St. Petersburg. Photo: Rustam Kotov_1
Spirit of Finland mural in St. Petersburg. Photo: Rustam Kotov/ the Finnish Institute in St. Petersburg

The annual festival, Day of Finland, will take place on May 25, 2019 in Sevkabel Port, Saint Petersburg. For the festival purpose, the Finnish Institute in St. Petersburg presents a colourful mural on one of the street walls of Sevkabel Port buildings.The Finnish Institute in Saint Petersburg is a meeting place for Finnish and Russian research and culture.

The “Spirit of Finland” mural depicts two Spirits that symbolize the close connection between culture and nature in Finland with its evergreen forests and clean lakes. On the other hand, the Spirits are surrounded by some very inherent features of Finnish day-to-day and urban life, such as an obligatory morning cup of coffee.

Designers of Spirit of Finland mural, Teo Georgiev and Sofia Kolovskaya Photo: Kerttu Matinpuro/ The Finnish Institute in Saint Petersburg
Designers of Spirit of Finland mural, Teo Georgiev and Sofia Kolovskaya Photo: Kerttu Matinpuro/ The Finnish Institute in Saint Petersburg

The mural was created by two Aalto Visual Communication Design Programme students, illustrators Sofia Kolovskaya and Teo Georgiev, and it is approximately 4 metres long and 8 metres high. 

Partners in the project: The Finnish Institute in Saint Petersburg, Aalto University, the Day of Finland, Sevkabel Port

Address: Sevkabel Port, Kozhevennaya liniya 40D

About the artists

Illustrator Sofia Kolovskayais originally from Saint Petersburg and nowadays lives in Helsinki. In 2019 she graduates from the Aalto University with the main specialty of Visual Communication Design. Her previous works include a guide book “St. Petersburg Alphabet”, on-going project “One day one sketch” and a graphic novel “Malen’kaya Gora” (“Small Hill”). She is collaborating with a book shop Podpisnie Izdaniya and has worked as an illustrator for a publishing house Mann, Ivanov and Ferber.

kolovskaya.com

Teo Georgiev is a graphic designer and illustrator originally from Plovdiv, Bulgaria. He lives in Helsinki and works on his master thesis in Visual Narrative in Aalto University. He has taken part in various projects, such as painting a Unicorn Mural for the A Grid a startup community of Aalto University and designed packages and book covers.

teogeorgiev.com

More information:

PR specialist Anna Kalduzova

The Finnish Institute in Saint Petersburg

[email protected]

+ 7 (931) 381 84 52

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