GHP Newsletter 04/2009

The heat is on in Shanghai

19 weeks to go to the Grand Opening of Shanghai World Expo 2010. 133 days. 95 workdays, 93 if you exclude Easter holidays.

As the city of Shanghai revs up to finish everything in time for the Expo, so too is Kirnu, The Giant Kettle, well on its way to being finished. Currently the 25 000 shingles are being installed on the outside of the building while ventilation and acoustics are worked on inside. 40 tour guides have been recruited to make sure that every visitor gets information and help during their visit to Kirnu.

The Finnish cultural visibility in Shanghai is increasing. To support this upwards spiral, the Finnish Expo organization has started a cultural blog www.sharing-inspiration.com to support the active engagement of artists and cultural consumers alike.

Co-operation and networking among design people

Snowball / Finnish-Chinese Design Industry event was hosted in Shanghai on November 3-5, 2009. The event gathered together Finnish design related companies, designers and other actors interested in the Chinese market to meet the leading names of design in China. The event consists of a Finnish-Chinese design seminar with an additional networking program.

The theme of the three-day event was the present state and opportunities of the Chinese design market. At the seminar, leading Chinese design experts spoke of the transition of China from "the world's factory" to a country investing in design, and about features of contemporary Chinese visual culture. Speakers from Finland presented the actors and parties involved in the Finnnish Big Kettle pavilion project for World Expo 2010, Finnish design companies and  various cooperation projects. Coinciding with Snowball, Finnish design was also on display in Shanghai at several locations.

Around thirty Finnish designers and representatives of design-related companies such as Durat, Marimekko and Metso took part in the seminar, while approximately 50 significant Chinese professionals of the field, including representatives of fashion brands, design shops and agencies and the media were present as keynote speakers and participants.

The event was a wonderful success and got the title of ”Most Creative Event of the Year 2009”  by the Chinese Surface Magazine. Read more about the event at www.designforum.fi/snowball.

Chinese “Engineering Excellence” media trip

The sixth Chinese media visit of 2009 was orchestrated by the Finnish Expo team. The media group came to see the engineering excellence that Finland and Helsinki has to offer. During November 3rd and 11th he group visited leading Finnish companies such as Nokia and KONE and got a glance into the schooling and research infrastructure behind the engineering excellence with visits to Aalto Univeristy, VTT and Tekes. The group also visited Lapland to experience winter Finnish style!