For Everyone
Jopo and man 60 years
There probably aren’t many Finns who don’t know the Helkama Jopo bicycle – even if not all bikes called Jopo are actually Jopos.
The story of the Jopo is unparalleled – a product designed to be utterly practical, which reinvented the bicycle in a time of cycling oblivion. Jopo – or jopo, as it actually reads – grew instantly into a design classic that also revolutionised advertising, product design and the art industry, but which grew out of its world and came to an end after ten years of production. Except, it didn’t.
The world kept changing, and after twenty years, Jopo reclaimed its role as a design classic, with the same qualities that it had when it was new: an affordable, durable, original and noble yet humble everyday vehicle for everyone.
No wonder Helkama, the manufacturer of the Jopo, wanted to bring Jopo out again. In the early 2000s, Jopo was reborn, not as a nostalgic retro product, but with a new implementation of the original concept. The experiment exceeded expectations, with Jopo gaining a new audience of young people and young people gaining their own ride.
For Everyone explores, through art and design, this amazing multi-generational story. The perspectives used are the industrial birth of the Jopo, the interpretation of the Jopo through art, the two worlds in which the Jopo was born, and the relationship between the Jopo and its user.
The exhibition includes works by Erno Peltonen, Maaria Märkälä, Tiitu Takalo & Tiina Männistö-Funk, Eero Kumanto and Olli Erkkilä. Contemporary photographs are also on display, from the works of Simo and Eeva Rista to the present day. Yes, and quite a few Jopos.
The exhibition will be complemented by events and publications with Jopo enthusiasts. The exhibition is made possible by Helkama Velox Oy and by government funding from the Finnish Heritage Agency.
For Everyone – Jopo and Man 60 Years at the Mobilia Lossigalleria from 10 May 2024 to 20 April 2025.
