E-mail: tapio.markkanen@.fi E-mail: Helsinki, Association, Astronomical Ursa Markkanen Tapio Finland in Universe the and Heritage Cultural Arts, C. P. Challenging between Interaction Snow:Active eight times a year. The journal is one of the the of one is journal The year. a times eight journal the avaruus publishes Ursa community. local the of port sup financial the with built been have ries the In observato cases most observations. own public their for for and schools and observatory parties star an have them Most of country. the over all active are eties soci astronomy local 40 than More million. 5.2 around of a population of out members 000 national 15 over had the organisation, astronomy Association, Ursa the 2009, Astronomical of end the At size. lation amateur of popu the for big is Finland in community astronomers The and alike. TV radio journals, newspapers, — the in media topic scientific Astronomy popular thus most the interesting. is and very Universe, the astronomy, find Finns The Introduction TwoCultures Arts Dialogue Between Astronomy and Arts and Sciences • Key Words Key

Cultural Heritage and the Universe in Finland in Universe the and Heritage Cultural Arts, between Interaction Active P. C. Snow: Challenging (Stars and Space), which is issued issued is which Space), and (Stars Tähdet ja ja Tähdet - - - - an international collaboration. of international an part as often learning, and teaching of methods new creating Ursa, with operation co- in work their science develop actively and teachers mathematics as astronomy Finland, in in name. role its leadership a to has Ursa sciences related and astron omy on books popular 100 with than more house publishing science important an also is Ursa popu Finnish. in that science larises publications esteemed most was evolution. Cosmic evolution played played evolution Cosmic evolution. was of 2009 theme main The of Helsinki. versity event Uni the at 2009 January 10 to 7 from communication held science biannual nationwide a Forum, Science the of events major of one as 2009 in January 7 on Finland inaugurated officially was IYA2009 The astrophysics of anniversary 150th The cultural and Arts sizes. all events. of these of many parts of essential were activities events 400 than more were there Altogether events. international and national local, many with Finland in celebrated was IYA2009 The popular. been always has astronomy Finland, In irrelevant. be to dialogue a in engage to unable cultures concept, two P.of Snow,C. 50-year-old by introduced the found have We science. and humanities arts, 2009 between the interactions real Astronomy be of can there Year that demonstrated International clearly the (IYA2009) during Finland in events Many Summary • CAPjournal, No. 9 October 2010 October 9 No. CAPjournal,

- - - was generally recognised (see Figure 1). Figure (see recognised generally was significance its and statue, the in symbol a as was used essential in research for a tool breakthrough a decades, few a just in design, as monument’s the in clear made is discovery scientific Finland. this of in importance The 1863 of legislation advanced Emperor to is and reforms II monument to and the political Alexander the analysis in spectral indicated of importance The the of composition bodies. celestial other and stars the became find It to physical possible — astrophysics. sciences and new chemistry two of ning begin the marked and analysis revolutionised chemical technique new This rated. commemo also was Kirchhoff, Robert and Bunsen Robert by 1859 in invented copy, other spectros of at anniversary and 150th The events. lectures the at role major a

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Best Practices - - - Challenging C. P. Snow: Active Interaction between Arts, • CAPjournal, No. 9 October 2010 Page 23 Cultural Heritage and the Universe in Finland • •

Eclipse, running from 6 March to 7 June approached this multi-layered idea from with themes relating to solar eclipse expe- three perspectives: through its cultural and ditions and space travel, with Ulla Taipale scientific significance, through different as curator. This group of artists had trav- individual perceptions and how the various elled to Novosibirsk for the 2008 total solar experiences could be depicted. Looking at eclipse. Agnes Meyer-Brandis enlivened the subject from the perspective of cultural a voyage to the Moon by using a special history, aesthetics, spirituality and the sci- species of geese — Moon geese (see ences, separately and together, opened Figure 2) — as told by Francis Goodwin up interesting views. Three themes were in his book, The Man in the Moone, or a discussed from the different points of view, Discourse of a Voyage thither, by Domingo the mythological and religious sky, the sky Gonsales, published posthumously in as atmosphere and space, and the imaged 1638. The artists and scientists also dis- and imagined sky. The conference papers cussed explorations in time and space. The will be published as a book edited by Yrjö exhibition ended with a walk and series of Sepänmaa. The weather favoured the con- events through the centre of Helsinki from ference because on the second night a star , the Museum of Modern Art to the party was organised with the assistance of Ursa’s Observatory, with a stop and visit to the astronomical society Warkauden Kas- the Helsinki University Observatory. siopeia. The telescopes were provided and excellent guidance given by the chairper- Figure 1. Lux and the spectroscope. Since 1894, the son of the society, Veli-Pekka Hentunen. monument, created by Johannes Takanen and Walter The heavens and the human Runeberg, has stood in the Senate Square in the very mind interaction centre of Helsinki. One of its figures, the goddess of knowledge, is holding a spectroscope as a symbol Global folklore and space of intellectual inquiry and research, rather than the The 7th International Conference on Envi- exploration more conventional papyrus scroll or compass. ronmental Aesthetics was the culmina- tion of a series of scholarly conferences In Joensuu, in central northeast Finland, Voyage to the Moon arranged between 26 and 28 March at the Museum of Northern Carelia and the Valamo Monastery in Heinävesi by Yrjö local astronomy society Seulaset (the Plei- In the IYA2009, the arts received public Sepänmaa, Professor of Environmental ades) produced an exhibition that spanned attention at many events in Finland. At Aesthetics at the University of Joensuu. a vast range of topics, from the age-old Kiasma, the National Museum of Modern The theme was the aesthetics of the sky, traditions of calendars and myths of crea- Art in Helsinki, an international team of art- space and heaven. The artistic contribution tion of the world, to cosmic evolution as ists, Jussi Kivi, Oliver Kochta, Iina Kohonen included several art performances, posters part of modern science, and GPS naviga- and Mika Taanila created a multi-faceted and exhibitions. People attach multiple, tion and space astronomy (see Figure 3). art exhibition and an interlinked series parallel and overlapping meanings to The interactive exhibition was produced of events named Expedition To The Solar the concept “celestial”. The conference by Pertti Pääkkönen, Chair of the Seulaset

Figure 2. The artist Agnes Meyer-Brandis meets the Moon geese for a voyage to the Moon during the total solar eclipse in 2008. The experiment is part of Capsula´s guided expeditions. Photo: The Moon goose experiment/Agnes Meyer-Brandis 2008/VG-Bildkunst. ment of philosophy and science and their impact on people and society, arranged at the Maunula Science Gymnasium in Helsinki by nine educational, scholarly and cultural organisations, including Ursa. One of the guest lecturers was Jon Jenkins of the SETI Institute, who gave a presentation entitled Hunting for Other Worlds — Kepler Probe and Exoplanets. A special afternoon session was dedicated to the interaction between art and science. Four eminent art- ists, the sculptor Lauri Anttila, the novelist Olli Jalonen, the composer Kari Rydman and the visual artist Jyrki Siukonen dis- cussed the role and meaning of the Uni- verse in their creative work. With impressive pieces of art as examples, the audience was really carried through time and space to the heart of artistic creation. The artists demonstrated how deeply and seriously the concepts and structures of science can influence the arts. The presentations were followed by a lively discussion with the audience. The year 2009 also was the 50th Figure 3. Space night for children in Joensuu. A space-themed masquerade brought about a hundred children anniversary of C. P. Snow’s famous lecture to the Museum of North Carelia. On the right, a giant World Egg, part of many creation myths from round the Two Cultures in which he claimed that the world. arts and sciences are unable to communi- cate. The symposium convincingly showed Society and a researcher at the Univer- C. P. Snow was wrong — that Snow was wrong. In the evening of sity of Joensuu, and Iiris Heino and Outi The Galileo Symposium the first day of the symposium, the drama Suoranta of the Museum and many enthu- on the History of group from the Martinlaakso Gymnasium siastic colleagues. It was visited by many Philosophy and Science of Vantaa presented a play on Galileo and groups, including school classes with their his science. The text and setting on the teachers and the general public and was Galileo Galilei was remembered in many stage were created by the pupils and their extensively covered by media. The name of contexts over the year. The general pub- teachers by using different literary and sci- the exhibition (8 October 2009 – 21 March lic was also reminded of the fundamental entific sources. 2010) was Väinämöisen polvelta tähiksi importance of the discoveries of Johannes taivaalle, From the Knee of Väinämöinen to Kepler in his Astronomia Nova published the Heavenly Stars. Väinämöinen is a cen- 1609. One commemorative multi-day event Lights and shadows tral character — an omnipotent sage — in for teachers, young people and the general of the night the Finnish national epos Kalevala. public was a symposium on the develop- The Helsinki City Museum has an exhibi- tion called The Night at the Sederholm House, which is located at the corner of the Senate Square in the very centre of Helsinki. The house was built in 1757 and is the oldest surviving house in Helsinki after the fire of 1808. The exhibition was planned by Tiina Väisänen and produced by Jaana Mellanen and Minna Sarantola-Weiss. The working group consisted of Marcus Haga, Eva Packalén, Päivi Roivainen and Hilkka Vallisaari with many colleagues. By dis- playing complete, genuine interiors, views of the historic town of Helsinki, pieces of art and everyday utensils, the exhibition describes different aspects of life in a city during a night in times past. One room is dedicated to time-keeping and astro- nomical research at the now 175-year-old University Observatory (see Figure 4). Old photographs and other material describe the glorious past of that institution, centrally placed in the city. One of the main attrac- tions is the Observatory’s heliometer made by Joseph von Fraunhofer. The exhibition is Figure 4. The history of astronomy was also part of Helsinki City Museum’s exhibition The Night at Sederholm open until 29 August 2010. House. Photo: Helsinki City Museum.

Challenging C. P. Snow: Active Interaction between Arts, • CAPjournal, No. 9 October 2010 Page 24 Cultural Heritage and the Universe in Finland • • Challenging C. P. Snow: Active Interaction between Arts, • CAPjournal, No. 9 October 2010 Page 25 Cultural Heritage and the Universe in Finland • •

Figure 5. The history of the visual representation of Figure 6. Lauri Anttila’s piece of sculpture showing the solar spectrum at noon at Ursa Observatory. Visualisa- the skies was displayed at the National Library’s ex- tion courtesy of Lauri Anttila. hibition, The View from Paradise, in Helsinki.

The View from Paradise Commemorating the City of Helsinki in June 2010, and received International Year of by the Mayor of Helsinki, Jussi Pajunen, a The National Library of Finland is celebrat- Astronomy 2009 long-time member of Ursa. ing the International Year of Astronomy with an exhibition on the history of the maps of Lauri Anttila is an internationally known the heavens entitled The View from Para- sculptor. Throughout his career Anttila has Conclusions dise. The globes of antiquity have given created pieces of art that connect the eve- way to today’s digital databases which ryday environment, both urban and natu- Finland hosted several events which con- hold detailed information that can be used ral, with the cosmos. A long-time active nected astronomy to art and culture during for analyses of the structure and evolu- observer himself, Anttila has created pieces IYA2009. The public response to these tion of the Universe. Besides the technical that include the sundial on the floor of the projects was strong, but perhaps more prerequisites for producing the charts, an Rovaniemi airport terminal, giving the posi- importantly, new works emerged from the examination of star maps reveals wide- tion of the Sun at noon and the corrected collaboration of scientists and artists. ranging cultural linkages because each official time (1992); and a second sundial era’s economic, cultural and political needs that is possibly the biggest in the world, have always influenced the mapping of the which gives the noon at each of the four Notes heavens. In order to have a complete view time zones of Europe (Vuosaari, ­Helsinki of the Universe, the heavens were tradition- 2000); and the memorial to the Finnish 1 http://www.nationallibrary.fi ally looked at from outside, as if from para- solar eclipse expeditions of 1945 and 1947. dise. When it was understood that the stars On the monument in Kangaslampi, ­Varkaus were not fixed on a solid material sphere, (2005), the Sun connects observation but dispersed at different distances across sites in Bana (Ghana), Bocaiuva ­(Brazil), a vast space, there was no longer any point Poroluoto and Kangaslampi (Finland). In in looking at the sky from outside. The point May 1947 two Finnish expeditions to Ghana of view of the star maps was now from and Brazil were the first to determine the Biography Earth. The great Finnish tradition in sky distance (about 5459 km) between the Old mapping is presented through the works and New Worlds by direct triangulation. Tapio Markkanen obtained his doctor- of astronomers like Friedrich Argelander, Ursa Astronomical Association asked Lauri ate in 1977 at the University of Helsinki. Adalbert Krueger and Anders Donner Anttila to create a sundial at the site of the He has taught astronomy there and done (see Figure 5). Sky maps and guidebooks Ursa public observatory in , research on Galactic structure, interstellar magnetic fields and star formation. He has for amateur astronomers were also dis- Helsinki. Anttila has created a horizontal also published scholarly works on the his- played at the exhibition. The exhibition was sundial which is illuminated by the Sun at tory of science. Tapio Markkanen has also planned by Tapio Markkanen, designed noon (see Figure 6). The surface of the sun- been active in developing science educa- by Marjaana Kinnermä and produced by dial is covered with a huge solar spectrum tion and communication. He is chairperson of the Ursa Astronomical Association for Inkeri Pitkäranta. The exhibition closed on with the continuum and absorption lines of 2008–2011. As chair of the Finnish National 30 April 2010 and will be available in virtual different elements of the solar atmosphere Commission for UNESCO he also partici- form1. A book with the same title in Finnish cast by a mirror at the wall of the Observa- pates in the activities of that organisation. was published by Ursa. tory. The monument will be delivered to the World Conference of Science Journalists 2011 Cairo, Egypt 27–29 June 2011 www.wcsj2011.org

Archaeoastronomy and Ethnoastronomy: Building Bridges Between Cultures Ninth “Oxford” International Symposium on Archaeoastronomy: Lima, Peru January 2011 www1.archaeoastronomy.org

www.pcst-2010.org