The Tampere Jazz Happening celebrates its even-numbered anniversary this year with a photography exhibition. Previously, photographs taken at the festival have been on display in the 10th-anniversary exhibition at the beginning of the 1990s, and again in 2006 when the festival celebrated its 25th year. This year’s exhibition begins where the previous one left off, spanning the time period between 2006 and 2020. In the last 15 years, cameras have become digital and the concerts’ stage lighting has taken a major leap towards colours.
The exhibition will be held at the Telakka venue’s ground and top floors, as well as at the Pakkahuone venue’s ground floor. The photographs on display feature around fifty glimpses of some of the top moments in the festival’s recent history. All festival-goers probably have their very own favourite moments from the festival’s history, though. In this exhibition, we get to see one such possible collection in images, as selected by the photographer herself.
Photographer Maarit Kytöharju describes her career at the Jazz Happening as follows:
“I began working as the photographer of the Tampere Jazz Happening in 1989 after I had graduated from the Lahti Institute of Design and moved to Tampere. At the time, I could not have guessed just how significant part of my life this festival would become. It finalised my decision to specialise in photographing music life as well as opened the doors and viewpoints into European jazz, North American jazz, and indeed into jazz of the whole world. I have gained a multitude of friends at the Jazz Happening, fallen in love here, and on a couple occasions also taken care of a few-month-old baby in between the concert photoshoots. In this All-Saints’ Day’s lush “jazz bubble”, I have gained appreciation and recognition for my work and felt that I was in the right place at the right time. Because of all this, I think nothing describes the Happening more aptly than the phrase coined by Pablo Harju: Extra-Love!”
The exhibition will be open at Tullikamari’s Pakkahuone during the Tampere Jazz Happening’s events between 5th and 7th November 2021 (entrance with the concert ticket), as well as at the restaurant Telakka between 5th November and 6th December 2021.
