A Tribute for Lake Puruvesi and Vendace
1. Why the vendace statue belongs in Lake Puruvesi?
2. What is the statue like?
3. Where did the idea come from?
4. How the statue came to be?
1. For centuries, Lake Puruvesi has offered delicious nutrition to the people living in the surrounding areas and functioned as a saving food pantry due to seining of vendace. As early as the 16th century, people came to fish in Lake Puruvesi from as far as Svobodnoye (in Finnish: Kirvu) and Kamennogorsk (previously: Antrea), both in Carelia. As such, Lake Puruvesi became a concrete meeting place for two cultures and finally, a centre of fishing culture.
Still to this day vendace from Lake Puruvesi is a nationally known fish with clear-coloured flanks, offering culinary experiences and creating jobs in the area. Puruvesi vendace is also included in the scope of schemes for the protection of names, granted by the European Commission. Of the available schemes, Puruvesi vendace has protected geographical indication (PGI).
The important role of fishing has also been visible in the Parish life: in the sermons, catches of vendace have both been wished for as well as blessed. Now we wish to respect the significance of vendace also with a statue designed in its honour. In the statue five steel vendace, each approximately a metre long, swim in what appears to be a school of fish, reminding us of the wonderful bounty of Lake Puruvesi.
2. The statue comprising of five fish has been made of acid-resistant 5 mm steel. The fish have been connected to street lighting to power the small led lights glowing inside them. The fish have been planted to barn stones with steel rods to make the statue sturdy while keeping the appearance light and airy. The vendace has been crafted by Riitek from Punkaharju, whose designer Kai Turtiainen has designed the fish. Lake Puruvesi is present in the statue through sound, which one can hear close enough to the statue. If the waves are not splashing in all weather conditions due to technical reasons, you can access the soundscape via the link on this website.
How well the statue depicts a vendace enjoying itself in a school of fish, is Your decision.
3. This statue project originated from an idea by Helena Pölönen, who has moved back to Kerimäki after years spent elsewhere. She contacted Kari Muhonen, the chairperson of Kerimäki Association at the time, who took the idea seriously and convened a working group in the spring of 2024 to promote the project. Heli Järvinen was appointed as the chairperson of this working group.
The original plan was to have the statue ready by 2026, however, as the project progressed rapidly under the auspice of the Kerimäki Association and gained support of several sponsors, it was decided to bring forward its completion by one year.
-A big thank you is also due to Savonlinna Parish, who gave the statue a dignified and visible location in the centre of Kerimäki, to secure the creation of it. The statue on the hill in the churchyard is visible to everyone arriving in the village and also emphasizes the dignity of our beautiful church and churchyard, Järvinen says.
The statue is located 15 metres from the pavement in front of Kaivopirtti and 22 metres from Puruvedentie in a way that the whole statue fits in the area framed by said distances. The church, old church road, sledding hill and surrounding residences have been taken into consideration when planning the location of the statue, so that the statue does not disturb any of the aforementioned. As the location is a culturally and historically significant area, statements were requested from both the Centre for Economic Development, Transport and the Environment as well as the Finnish Heritage Agency, both of which were in favour of the statue.
4. This tribute to Lake Puruvesi and its clear-flanked vendace would not have been possible without public funding, monetary support and work input of various companies, and participation of countless local residents.
A big thank you to those who made this project possible:
