From mosaics to foxtrots: Seven Tampere figures pick favourite city artworks

To mark the city’s 247th birthday weekend, seven cultural figures picked their favourite Tampere-themed artworks. The feature appeared in Aamulehti and follows its recent birthday photo call that collected readers' favourite Tampere selfie spots readers' picks.

Jan Anderzén’s large glass mosaic Palaisinpa kukkana at the Turtola tram stop drew praise from Nike Sarapohja, who said she sometimes gets off the tram on purpose to stare at it and then takes the next tram back feeling calmer.

Essi Renvall’s Atlas-tyttö in Marianpuisto, with its gilded details and gracefully falling bronze dress, was Hannele Kivilahti’s choice as a tribute to the city’s textile history. She noted a family connection to the factories.

Historian Marko Tikka highlighted the 1931 foxtrot Tammerkoski by Lauri Lindgrén, praising the Dallapé recording and its xylophone effects. "Tammerkoski is a lively foxtrot, not a limp humppa (a Finnish dance-music style)!" he said.

Antti Liuttunen, curator at Vapriikki museum, singled out the museum’s historical photo archive as a communal memory source. "Photographs are the supreme recorders of the past and part of the community story," he said.

Other nominations included Heikki Sarmannon’s musical settings of Lauri Viita’s poems, Johanna Sinisalo’s picks of Tampere comics such as Perkeros, Mirella Mäkilä’s fondness for Kalevauva’s playful Tampere song, and Simo Frangén’s endorsement of Pirkka-Pekka Petelius’s comic tune "Tampere." Aamulehti invited readers to share their own favourites at the end of the feature.