The northern vacation is over and I'm back in the studio under the Spanish heat (the sun and the economical crises).

I just sent to Raul a list of names for the new version of my Starbucks work, which will be done and exhibited in San Diego, California, next month in a show titled Celebrity Skin.

We spent a fantastic week in the Finnish countryside with the postmodern luxury of living without an internet connection but now we are back in the reality in Helsinki. We've been to the Korkeasasaari zoo and the Linnanmäki amusement park and also to the two main branches of the Finnish National Gallery - Ateneum and Kiasma. Unfortunately these art experiences were worse than anything I've seen for a long time in any museum.

Ateneum boasts a large exhibition of  Helene Schjerfbeck (1862-1946), possibly the  most acclaimed Finnish artist. I love Schjerfbeck's still-lifes and self-portraits but it was difficult to enjoy of them because the show is so badly curated. There are too many works, many of them irrelevant early works,  or not enough space for them. The small size paintings in assorted frames would simply need more solemnity but now they are installed like a flea market on multicolored zigzag walls. The special effects don't work and the basic effects were unprofessional, the lighting left dark shadows of the frames on all the works. I was dreaming to see Schjerfbeck's all self-portraits juxtaposed but to my disappointment the works were not ordered thematically but randomly. The result is like a manual of bad curating and a clear example how it is possible to make a horrible show of great works.

Maybe I shouldn't attack the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art, because my career in Finland depends of the institution, but my dogma has always been to bite the hands that feed me. Eyeballing - The New Form of Comics showcased things done by comic artists. I say things because they were neither comics nor art works, maybe not even nothing in-between, but just unnecessary things. My friend Katja had done the flagship work of the exhibition. Her painting installation with circus lights was not bad but it was ruined by placing on the same walls comic book pages of Matti, her husband. I mention their relation because I couldn't see any other reason for mixing up these two works. Curating doesn't have to be diffcicult, sometimes keeping things simple and avoiding tricks is enough.

The other exhibition at Kiasma is called Camouflage - Visual Art and  Design in Disguise. The title is good because the works were disguised, masked and camouflaged behind a disgusting and cheap exhibition architecture constructed of strange plastic nets. I didn't know if I should have laughed or cried.

I'm on vacation in Finland with my family but I can't relax and disconnect totally -  I'm giving interviews about my recent experiences in Damascus and opinions about the current situation in Syria. Yesterday I was invited to the breakfast show of MTV3 channel. The journalists were really happy that they could offer a different point of view compared with the story told by the Occidental media which is based on the propaganda of the Islamist rebels and their supporters in the Gulf and Washington.

My Syrian firends believe that the Western media is controlled by the governments and the capitalists. Undoubtedly they are at least partly right but I think that many journalist are just lazy - they use the best and easiest propaganda accessible and don't bother to contrast the information. What the Syrian government needs now is better propaganda - if I were their minister of information, I would hire the best media media experts from America to soften the image of the regime. The contemporary wars are not won with tanks but the TV.

I'm now back in my safe and easy life in Europe but my baggage (including two drawings Mahmoud gave me) and my mind are still in the Middle East. I hope that Royal Jordanian brings my bag before Sunday when I'm going to Finland for a vacation with my family. Anyways, my mind will be lost much longer in Syria. And who cares of some dirty clothes, presents and art works when my friends are in a real danger?

The terrorist violence has escalated during this week in Damascus. One of the streets where I took photos for Syrian Democracy was bombed, one of the channels that interviewed was bombed, many intellectuals have been killed. President Assad used finally the word war. People are panicking now. Nisrine tells that the streets are empty and she is crying.

When the West understands that they have chosen the wrong side? When they realize that they are supporting Islamist terrorism? Why the Syrian government is now so oppressive and totalitarian, if just less than two years ago all world leaders visited Mr. Assad?

The day after the opening, I gave several interviews for the press and TV channels. Also the Russian Anna News asked me about my point of view of the current situation in Syria. The Russian TV crew had just came back from covering the battle of Homs.

On the way to the airport, I was taken to Addounia TV studios, where I was interviewed for a political analyzes program. It feels that the artists are very respected in Syria as intellectuals. I told in the program that the government must do softer propaganda and attack harder the rebels. Abir and Nisrine said that their names should not be mentioned. Anybody supporting the government is a target for the terrorists. I could say whatever I wanted, I was just leaving the country, but my friends stay there. I hope nobody is in danger for my statements.

Now I'm in the Golden Tulip Amman Airport Hotel watching James Bond and eating a room service cheeseburger. I have my connecting flight early in the morning to Madrid. I feel strange. Very strange.