Art, Talks & Food at Flow Festival 2022
Flow Festival is known for its great musical lineup year after year, but the festival is much more than just musical performances. Flow’s comprehensive art program offers thought-provoking art experiences around the festival area. In 2022, the art program presents captivating video art, arresting spatial and sound art, topical light art, as well as painted art, and photography. Flow will also introduce a striking new art space 'Tiilikello x Polestar', in the recently renovated, awe-inspiring old gasometer over 40 meters high and wide.
Flow Talks will be held at the festival area’s Viinilinna near the Main Stage on Friday and Sunday. Flow Festival’s selection of restaurants is nicely varied with some of Helsinki’s restaurants offering their signature styles and dishes for Flow visitors. This year, visitors get to enjoy food from 40 restaurants and drinks from over 20 bars. In addition, Flow continues its trail-blazing work on sustainability by cutting meat and poultry entirely out of the menus and ensuring all restaurants have at least one vegan option. The festival also presents a wide variety of wines, craft beers, and desired additions to non-alcoholic beverages.
Here are a few picks by Indiefferential to see, feel, taste, and hear.
Antti Tolvi: Butterfly Effect
Antti Tolvi’s Butterfly Effect is a spatial composition of sound and light. The work is a resonant space that forms gentle, slow, soft, and abstract events. Butterfly Effect is created specifically for its exhibition space – the brand new Tiilikello x Polestar art space in the recently renovated, awe-inspiring old gasometer, reaching over 40 meters high and wide.
Antti Tolvi is a sound artist and composer from Turku. Tolvi has been one of Finland’s most influential names in experimental music since 2002 and has performed more than 400 concerts and performances on three continents. Tolvi has released 14 solo records and featured on more than 50 records as a player and composer. Tolvi’s work has been featured in several solo and group exhibitions in Finland and Europe, including the Helsinki Festival, Helsinki Biennal, and Titanic Gallery. His works often reflect freedom, peace, gratitude, and minimalist aesthetics, which combine sound, light, wind, water, bodily sensations, and living visual elements.
Ville Mäkelä: Ivana V
History repeats itself cruelly when despots grow their power and rule by fear. Russia and its surrounding nations have suffered from such rulers throughout history and it’s happening even today. The work acts as a mirror for the fools that support this kind of use of power and accept the consequences. If we wish a change to this brutality, we must express critique towards tyrants.
Ville Mäkelä is a light and visual artist living in Helsinki. Mäkelä’s previous work includes, e.g., “Vladimir,” -a multimedia work presented during the last Other Sound x Sun Effects in 2018.
Sustainable Meal Panel
Flow has offered a wide selection of vegetarian, vegan, and environmentally friendly dishes for years, and the festival has once again provided its restaurants with the Sustainable Meal training in order to support sustainable development. Each restaurant serves a special, ecologic Sustainable Meal portion. Based on the ecological evaluation and panel tasting by food experts, one dish will be declared the Sustainable Meal Winner. The panel will take place on the festival Sunday at 2 pm in the festival area’s Viinilinna, and is open to all the festival visitors!
This year’s Sustainable Meal panel consists of:
Emma Kari: Member of Parliament for the Greens and member of the Helsinki City Council
Meri-Tuuli Väntsi: Cookbook author, chef & food stylist
Janne Keskevaari: Headchef of Restaurant Grön
An audience’s favorite Sustainable Meal dish is also chosen by popular vote. The voting is open throughout the festival weekend by QR code until 2 pm Sunday, and the audience’s favorite winner is declared at the Sustainable Meal Panel.
Indiefferential favorites to eat and drink at Flow Festival
Calamari by Pobre
POBRE returns to Flow with a whole new concept! CALAMARI by POBRE brings Flow visitors crisp-fried squid with exciting dips & sauces. Staying true to their roots, the kitchen offers an extremely unique island-Asian cuisine brushed up with Spanish culture at Flow Festival.
Indiefferential recommended dish at Calamari by Pobre - Calamari + Burnt Coconut Mayo
Levant
Levant presents Syrian Lebanese cuisine. The concept is based on vegetarian street food with traditional Middle Eastern tastes and fresh herbs. Flow visitors are treated with meze portions and grilled falafel rolls, which are rich and fresh in flavor and self-made from the beginning. Portions can be prepared gluten-free and vegan upon request.
Indiefferential recommended dish at Levant - Halloumi Falafel Roll
Lie Mi
If you’re craving a delicious Vietnamese meal, Lie Mi is the place to go! This summer Lie Mi returns to Flow Festival to feed the hungry with meals oozing with exotic flavors. Lie Mi serves dishes so fresh and breezy, that they’d even make Rambo burst into tears of joy.
Indiefferential recommended dish at Lie Mi - Shanghai taco crispy shrimp & Nacho + Asian guacamole
Social Burgerjoint
Social Burger Joint is a restaurant with roots in street food culture that invests in honest flavors. The concept of the burgers is simple, but every detail is designed with piety: the ingredients in the burgers from mayonnaise to ketchup are developed and tested in the kitchen of the Social Burgerjoint itself. This summer, Social Burgerjoint brings a custom menu for the Flow Festival.
