Installation view of ‘Silent Beauty’ at Ateneum, Helsinki. Courtesy of Finnish National Gallery. Photography: Hannu Pakarinen

Silent beauty. It’s a phrase that perfectly captures the shared aesthetic of two remote parts of the world. One is the Nordic region – especially Finland and neighbouring Sweden – the other is East Asia; mainly Japan, with ancestral influences from Korea and China. An exhibition by the same name combines the collection of Helsinki’s Ateneum (one of three museums forming the Finnish National Gallery), where the show is being held, alongside pieces from the Japan Folk Crafts Museum in Tokyo.

沉默的美丽。这是一个完美地捕捉世界两个遥远地区的共同美学的短语。一个是北欧地区，特别是芬兰和邻国瑞典--另一个是东亚，主要是日本，其祖先来自韩国和中国。一个同名的展览结合了赫尔辛基的Ateeneum（芬兰国家画廊的三个博物馆之一）的收藏，在那里，展会在东京的日本民间工艺品博物馆的艺术品。

On display are mainly ceramics and paintings, dotted with sculptures, textiles and architecture, which explore the countries’ artistic synergy. The timing is apt: this year marks the centenary of diplomatic relations between Finland and Japan. The show’s time span is elastic: focusing on pre- and post-World Wars, yet sometimes diverting to Korea’s Joseon dynasty (15th century) or the present day.

展出的主要是陶瓷和绘画，上面点缀着雕塑、纺织品和建筑，以探讨两国的艺术协同作用。时机恰到好处：今年是芬兰和日本建交一百周年。该剧的时间跨度是弹性的：聚焦于世界大战前后，但有时会转移到朝鲜的乔森王朝(15世纪)或今天。

The opening section profiles Yanagi Sōetsu, art critic, philosopher and father of the Mingei movement, initiated in 1925. His campaign, which emphasised the beauty of everyday objects in simplified shapes, culminated in the opening of the Japan Folk Crafts Museum in 1936. Yanagi had visited Stockholm in 1929 and played a key role in Japan’s embrace of Nordic aesthetics.

开篇部分介绍了1925年发起的艺术评论家、哲学家、明盖运动之父柳木·S·ōEtsu。他的活动强调了简化形状的日常物品的美，并在1936年日本民间工艺品博物馆开幕时达到了高潮。1929年，柳谷访问了斯德哥尔摩，在日本拥抱北欧美学方面发挥了关键作用。

Courtesy of Finnish National Gallery. Photography: Hannu Pakarinen

芬兰国家美术馆提供。摄影：Hannu Pakarinen

Meanwhile, Finnish and Swedish artists were discovering Japanese sensibilities through techniques and materials like woodcut printing and Japanese handcrafted paper, exhibited in Paris or at the Venice Biennale. This section’s display starts with a 19th-century haori, a kimono-style coat. The simple lines and geometric motifs of the garment, which was used as fireman’s uniform, illustrate the beauty in a functional item made by an unknown craftsperson. Coincidentally, its motifs also recall the universe of iconic Finnish design house Marimekko.

与此同时，芬兰和瑞典艺术家正在通过木刻印刷和日本手工纸等技术和材料，在巴黎或威尼斯双年展上发现日本人的情感。这部分的展示始于19世纪的豪利，一件和服风格的外套。服装的简单线条和几何图案，作为消防队员的制服，展示了一个由一个不知名的工匠制作的功能项目的美。巧合的是，它的主题也让人想起芬兰标志性设计公司Marimekko的宇宙。

The next room is largely dedicated to landscapes, starting with an oil painting by Helene Schjerfbeck. The strong connection to nature highlights similarities between the Far East and the far north. Then a great number of stoneware and earthenware pieces appear including slender-shaped jugs and bottles by Kyllikki Salmenhaara, which recall the stretching cedar tree, while minimally shaped plates and bowls by Kanjiro Kawai and Shōji Hamada lend a sense of dynamism.

下一个房间主要是为风景而设，首先是海琳·施杰夫贝克(HeleneSchjerfbeck)的油画。与自然的紧密联系突出了远东和遥远北方之间的相似之处。随后出现了大量的石器和陶器，其中包括kyllikki salmenhaara的细长形水壶和瓶子，这让人想起了伸展的雪松树，而小形状的板和碗则是由kanjiro kawai和shhōji hamada提供的一种活力感。

Bowl, 1956, by Shōji Hamada. Courtesy of Japan Folk Crafts Museum, Tokyo

1956年，由申奥·金缕达。日本民间工艺品博物馆，东京

‘According to Hamada, it takes sixty seconds to apply his decorative technique, but it took him sixty years to learn it’, says Anne-Marie Pennanen, the show’s curator, pointing out the calligraphy-like motif on the plate. As a backdrop to the pottery, two stencil-dye (Katazome) works by Samiro Yunoki are displayed on the wall.

“根据滨田的说法，应用他的装饰技巧需要60秒钟，但他花了60年的时间才学会它，”该剧策展人安妮-玛丽·彭纳宁(Anne-Marie Pennanen)指出了盘子上的类似书法的主题。作为陶器的背景，墙上展出了Samiro Yunoki的两幅蜡染作品(Katazome)。

‘Silent Beauty’ unfolds as a perpetual dialogue between different disciplines. Its flow is organic, guided by themes such as winter, fire, still lifes and black and white. The show also includes ceramics by Bernard Leach, paintings by Ufan Lee, and abstract paintings and sculptures by the Finnish couple Ahti and Maija Lavonen. Among the qualities juxtaposed throughout this exhibition, such as harmony, calmness, cleanness, simplicity, patience, the most prominent of all is pure silence. Here, silence is more golden than ever. §

“沉默之美”是不同学科之间永恒的对话。它的流动是有机的，指导主题如冬天，火，静物和黑白。展览还包括伯纳德·利奇的陶瓷作品、乌凡·李的画作以及芬兰夫妇阿赫提和迈亚·拉沃宁的抽象绘画和雕塑。在整个展览中并列的品质，如和谐、平静、清洁、简单、耐心，其中最突出的是纯粹的沉默。在这里，沉默比以往任何时候都更加金黄。§

“花瓶”，1970年，海蒂·布朗斯泰特著。芬兰国家美术馆提供。摄影：Hannu Pakarinen Vase，1970年，Heidi Blomstedt著。芬兰国家美术馆提供。摄影：Hannu Pakarinen

“八颗梨”，1956年，Ina Colliander著。芬兰国家美术馆提供。摄影：汉努·卡贾拉，“八梨”，1956年，伊娜·科利安德著。芬兰国家美术馆提供。摄影：Hannu Karjala

“静物”，1959年，Kalle Eskola著。由芬兰国家美术馆提供的静物，1959年，由Kalle Eskola。芬兰国家美术馆提供

1953年，KyllikkiSalmenhaara。由芬兰国家美术馆提供。摄影：1953年的HannuPakarinen瓶，KyllikkiSalmenhaara。由芬兰国家美术馆提供。摄影：HannuPakarinen

芬兰国家美术馆提供。摄影：芬兰国家美术馆的汉努·帕卡里宁。摄影：Hannu Pakarinen