Photography Exhibition Arrives in Brussels As a Thank You For the Capital of Culture Year

Capturing the most memorable moments of Turku European Capital of Culture 2011, the Culture in Pictures photography exhibition will go on display at the EU Committee of the Regions in Brussels on 5 June.

Featuring around one-hundred photographs about the events and people of the Capital of Culture year, the exhibition will remain on view at the committee’s headquarters for two weeks until 15 June.

The exhibition is brought to Brussels by Turku as a thank you to the European Union for receiving the status as European Capital of Culture, and for all the support received from the union’s institutions and people working in these, before and, especially, during the Capital of Culture year.

The Culture in Pictures exhibition will open on Tuesday 5 June by Ms. Minna Arve, Chair of the Board of the City of Turku, The event will include greetings from Ms.  Pauliina Haijanen, the head of the Finnish delegation to the Committee of the Regions; Mr. Jan Truszczyński Director General for Education and Culture of the European Commission; Finland’s Permanent Representative to the EU, Ambassador Jan Store; and MEP Hannu Takkula, Member of the Committee on Culture.

The event will be hosted by CEO Cay Sevón from the Turku 2011 Foundation, which has produced the exhibition and executes it in Brussels in cooperation with the Committee of the Regions and the Regional Office of Turku and South-West Finland.

- The cultural year was a resounding success for Turku, and in the core of the success is the fact that we were a European Capital of Culture, says Sevón.

- The European Capital of Culture is a prestigious brand, and our experience supports that view.  We want to thank the European Union and the people in the different European institutions, as well as all our partners, for their splendid work for the success of Turku 2011, Sevón explains.

The opening ceremony will feature a performance by the Cello Ensemble from Turku Arts Academy, and a lunch buffet with a selection of flavours from Southwest Finland.

Exhibition seen by over 12,000 people to date

The Culture in Pictures exhibition was put together after the Capital of Culture year using the best shots from the year’s events. The exhibition has been on view in Turku in January and February, followed by Rovaniemi and Mänttä in Finland. It is now on in  Targoviste in Romania, and Cadiz in Spain.

In Finland, the exhibition has been seen by nearly 1,500 people. In Cadiz, the exhibition is on display at the new ECCO centre for culture, where it has had over 10,000 visitors since its opening in March.

The exhibition takes the viewer from the frosty scenes of the opening ceremonies in January to the heat of the Art Sauna in the height of summer. The pictures travel through the River Aura to the open sea, from the Logomo Centre of Culture to the Turku Cathedral, and to a swimming pool above the city rooftops.

The Turku European Capital of Culture 2011 featured over 8,000 events and 165 different projects. Over 23,000 artists, workers and volunteers took part in making the year happen. The total number of visitors to the events has exceeded two million.

The Capital of Culture year will have a strong legacy:  the Turku 2011 Foundation has allocated additional funding for some 50 projects in the 2012-2013 transition period. The additional funding will bring a number of popular events back this summer, including the Eiders in the River Aura, the Colourscape bubbles, and the Eurocultured festival celebrating street culture.

Images from the Culture in Pictures exhibition
70-minute video on Turku's year as the European Capital of Culture