The photo exhibition explores the early years of the Vihreä Lanka newspaper and pioneering environmentalists in Finland. In addition to photos, the exhibition includes drawings by Sami Toivonen and Pekka Sauri, as well as interviews with the newspaper’s chief editors Timo Harakka and Pauli Välimäki.
Vihreä Lanka was published from 1983 to 2019. The newspaper boosted public awareness and debate on environmental issues and served as an important communication channel for many grassroots-level actors who were rarely given column space in the mainstream media.
Vihreä Lanka was discontinued in 2019. After that, the newspaper’s photo archives from the 1980s–1990s were donated to the Finnish Labour Museum Werstas. Of the thousands of photos in the archives, 77 photos of pioneering environmentalists have been selected for the exhibition. The photo collection offers a unique overview of the history of environmental activity in Finland.
The photos tell about responsible consumption and recycling, the rise of civic activity and activism, and the development of the environmental movement in Finland, and offer a glimpse into the history of the Vihreä Lanka newspaper.
In addition to photos, the exhibition features cartoons published in the newspaper, including environmental cartoons by Sami Toivonen, also known as the creators of the hilarious Oddville boys, Tatu and Patu, as well as selected strips from the Just Joo cartoons by Pekka Sauri.
The exhibition also features video interviews with the newspaper’s former chief editors Pauli Välimäki and Timo Harakka, who edited Vihreä Lanka in the 1980s–1990s.
