{"product_id":"war-is-a-disaster-by-henri-airo","title":"War is a disaster by Henri Airo","description":"\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eHow does a country learn to remember a war it never wants to forget?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eIn Finland, the answer is woven into everyday life — through school, through cinema, through family albums, and through the rifles handed to over 70% of young men who are legally required to serve in the military. In \u003cem\u003eWar is a Disaster\u003c\/em\u003e, Finnish artist Henri Airo spent seven years photographing memorial rituals and museums, digging through army propaganda archives, and pulling images from his own family's past to trace how the memory of the Winter and Continuation Wars — fought against the Soviet Union between 1939 and 1944 — continues to shape Finnish identity today. Both wars ended in defeat, yet they are held up as proof of national survival. That tension is where this book begins.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eAiro doesn't just document history — he \u003cstrong\u003equestions\u003c\/strong\u003e the stories we tell about it. By placing his own photographs alongside wartime propaganda and candid family snapshots, he reveals how personal and collective memory blur into one another, and how myths quietly become convictions. A war film costume designer stopping to photograph a uniform. A group of players in a war game instinctively acting out death. These small moments carry the full weight of inherited ideology — and \u003cem\u003eWar is a Disaster\u003c\/em\u003e has the rare ability to make that weight visible, without ever becoming heavy-handed.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eWhat the book ultimately asks is something far bigger than Finland: \u003cstrong\u003ewhen does remembering a war become a way of preparing for the next one?\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"font-claude-response-body break-words whitespace-normal leading-[1.7]\"\u003eThis is not a book that gives easy answers. It is a book that sits with the discomfort of the question — and invites you to do the same.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.kauneimmatkirjat.fi\/en\/palkitut\/2024-3\/art-and-photography-books\/\"\u003eThe Most Beautiful Books selection 2024\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003eby The Finnish Book Art Committee\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/encontrosdaimagem.com\/2025\/pt\/premio-fotolivros\/\"\u003eMain prize\u003cbr\u003eEncontros da Imagem Photobook Award 2025\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003eby Encontros da Imagem, Portugal\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/photofrome.org\/photobook-published-winners\/\"\u003eMain prize\u003cbr\u003ePhoto\/Frome Photobook Award 2024\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003eby Photo\/Frome Festival, UK\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.rencontres-arles.com\/fr\/les-prix-du-livre-2025-shortlist\"\u003eShortlisted\u003cbr\u003ePhoto-Text Book Award 2025\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLes Rencontres d’Arles, France\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/photobookaward.fi\/en\/2024-finalists\/\"\u003eFinalist\u003cbr\u003eFinnish Photobook Award 2024\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003eby Finnish Museum of Photography\u003cbr\u003e\u0026amp; Hippolyte Gallery\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"utu press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53158757630293,"sku":"WAR-ERF","price":35.0,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0573\/5016\/0524\/files\/war-is-a-disaster-by-henri-airo-7568709.jpg?v=1773333437","url":"https:\/\/www.tipi-bookshop.be\/products\/war-is-a-disaster-by-henri-airo","provider":"Tipi bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}