Sibelius Monument

This guide to the Sibelius Monument in Helsinki follows sculptor Eila Hiltunen's fight to bring the piece to life after she won the 1962 competition with something Finland had never seen: over six hundred welded steel pipes rather than a traditional statue. You'll hear about the anonymous hate mail, the parcels sent to her home, and the committee that forced her to add a small portrait relief of the composer off to one side as a compromise. It traces how a city that called her work a jumble of junk eventually had to make peace with it. Stand close to the pipes as you listen.