Information about the exhibits at Finncon 2023 can be found on this page.
All exhibits are located at the Tampere University main building’s 1st and 2nd floors.
LEGO exhibit
The association of the LEGO hobbyists, Palikkatakomo ry will take part in Finncon by bringing a variety of their own LEGO works, inspired by science fiction and fantasy literature, movies, and games.
Some of the works have been built mechanically mobile, using long and multiphase design work. The scale of the works varies, and they reflect the preferences of popular culture of their makers.
Palikkatakomo ry was founded in 2012 and it has about 60 members around Finland. In order to join the association, the member has to be at least 15 years old, and be interested in the hobby.
The LEGO exhibit by Palikkatakomo is located on the 1st floor.
Puupäähattu 50 years
Since 1972 the Finnish Comics Society has annually awarded the Puupäähattu prize to an established Finnish comics artist. The name of the prize refers to the hat of Ola Fogelberg’s classic character Pekka Puupää. The prize has been received by tens of different comics artists from Tove and Lars Jansson to Matti Hegelberg and Hanneriina Moissinen to Tarmo Kivistö. The long development arc of Finnish comics is reflected in the various phases of the prize.
The traveling Puupäähattu 50 years exhibit has been done by Sarjakuvamuseo ry.
Puupäähattu exhibit is located on the 2nd floor.
The exhibit has been curated by comic book artists Timo Kokkila and journalist Ville Hänninen and produced Rupriikki Media Museum.
Illustrated: Poika Vesanto exhibit is located on the 2nd floor.
Illustrated: Poika Vesanto
Poika Vesanto (1908–1950), an illustrator and a comics artist, was productive and skillful, and almost completely unknown. THe nostalgic exhibit showcases the master artist’s career and works.
Eijo “Poika” Vesanto was born in Tampere in 1908. He started his artistic career working with lithography in Tampere. The first comic by Vesanto, Eetu ja Riku, was published in the local newspaper Aamulehti in 1931. In 1932 a comic called Saku Sämpylä was published in Aamulehti and Karjala newspaper, and it still remains part of Finnish comics history, as the drawing style was compared to the best American newspaper comics published at that time.
Vesanto moved to Helsinki in 1932, and worked as an advertisement artist, and the illustrator for Suomen kuvalehti. Vesanto was a productive artist and made book covers, book and magazine illustrators as well as advertisements for the publishing house Otava. He drew well over 200 book covers, probably even more than that, but as was common in that era, the cover artists were often not mentioned in the books.
In addition to book covers, Vesanto also did covers for magazines. The covers for especially the magazine Seura are colourful and strongly recognisable works of art. The watercolour covers made by Vesanto for a lot of 1930s and wartime Seura magazines created a specific look for the
Vesanto passed away in 1950 at only 42 years old, but he left a permanent mark in the history of Finnish illustrations with his short but productive career.
