Hidden treasure of the city - The Lanu park

Hidden treasure of the city – Lanu Park

On a little hill, just on the edges of the city center of Lahti near the harbor lies the Lanu Park. The park holds 12 statues from Olavi Lanu(1925-2015), who was Finnish sculptor known for his large works made of construction materials like wood, concrete and copper imitating surfaces from nature like willow branches, moss or bark. Lanu got international renown from his works in the Venice Biennale in 1978 where natural materials were used. The park was built between 1988-and 1992 with assistance of students from Lahti Institute of Fine Arts. The works in the park are mimicking natural stone colors are intended to merge into the nature and gather moss freely.

Entrance to the park does not quite reveal what is to be expected

I never got to meet Lanu in person but he was a mentor to many of my teachers at the former Lahti institute of Fine Arts and often employed them for his projects - like some do for my peers these days. When i was in the park I got a certain feeling of tradition and it is as if sometimes there is a little sense in this city . Besides the sculptures in the park the surrounding area has an arboretum with 41 species of trees and wide variety of plants to wonder. It is quie beautiful place. I actually intended to make this last year to get the autumn colors but i didn't quite make it then. I hope you enjoy this visit to the world of sculptures by Olavi Lanu.

The first work i stop by just sets the mood for the stay here.

Hellä kivi - The gentle rock, 1992

The custom benches in the park make nice touch, though with some marks from next gen aspiring artists

Tuki - Support, 1991

Here It was if stumbled upon some ritual dance

Iso kivi - The big rock, 1991

there is just wonderful how the works reveal them selves slowly from the surroundings

Kiertynyt puu - The twisted tree, 1992

There are numerous paths here besides where the sculptures lie, and i got a little side tracked here

There was lot of interesting things to find

Paju - The willow, 1989

There is a little bit of graffiti on the works here and there, unfortunately

There was a lot of things that made me stop and take a picture

Much of Lanu's works were inspired by observations in nature and it's wonderful making my own discoveries here amongst his art

Harmaa Tammikuu - Grey January, 1990

There was so much emotion here.

Ranta kasa - Beach pile, 1990

Kaari - The arc, 1990

_Kaksi kiveä - Two rocks, 1991

Keko - The Mound, 1989

Originally this piece sat on top of an actual anthill - version of it featured in the Venice Biennale.

Kanto - The Stump, 1989

Very fancy

some of the works stood quite tall compared to the viewer, you can just imagine what task it was to make these

Läpi harmaan kiven - Through the grey rock

So that was the tour, I hope you enjoyed the nature and sculptures by the great artists Olavi Lanu.

sources:
https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lanu-puisto
https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olavi_Lanu