EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art

A celebration of textiles and materials: EMMA’s 2025 exhibitions have been announced!

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In the coming year, EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art will celebrate the diversity of materials in art and design. The exhibitions will explore the use of textiles, as well as recycled and natural materials, while also shedding light on the creative processes involved. The innovative use of materials and their rich layers of meaning by visual artists will be explored through solo exhibitions of Karin Hellman and Antti Laitinen, as well as a group exhibition focused on the legacy of the Italian Arte Povera movement, with the spotlight on women artists. The role of textiles in both everyday life and artistic expression will be explored, including perspectives on printed fabrics and fashion.

Left: Karin Hellman, assemblage © Lilja Oey / EMMA. Right: Social Fabric | Idaliina Friman, 2023 Image © Meeri Juvakka & Idaliina Friman
Left: Karin Hellman, assemblage © Lilja Oey / EMMA. Right: Social Fabric | Idaliina Friman, 2023 Image © Meeri Juvakka & Idaliina Friman

The year kicks off with a burst of colours and patterns, as the Draped – Art of Printed Fabrics exhibition envelops EMMA’s exhibition space in printed textiles created in Finland from the 1930s until today. This exhibition highlights the artistic significance of textiles well-established in the canon of design history: they are the craftwork of extraordinary artists whose creations have entered people’s homes through printed fabrics. At EMMA, the textiles are placed in dialogue with the Bryk & Wirkkala Visible Storage surrounding the exhibition space.

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Draped – Art of Printed Fabrics | Printed fabrics by Marjatta Metsovaara, Anja Terho and Tapio Wirkkala © Ari Karttunen / EMMA

The meanings of textiles and other materials in visual art take centre stage in the first major museum exhibition of Karin Hellman (1915–2004), based on the Collection Hellman donated to EMMA. Hellman was one of Finland’s most notable collage artists. In her hands, any material could gain a new life. She incorporated recycled textiles, everyday objects, and found natural materials into her works, broadening the Finnish art world’s perception of visual art with her open-minded approach. Hellman’s work can be linked to the Arte Povera movement of the 1960s, which is explored in a neighbouring group exhibition opening at the same time.

Arte Povera – A New Chapter examines how women artists have shaped the legacy of the Italian Arte Povera movement. Arte Povera – literally "poor art" – refers to the use of humble, everyday and discarded materials. Rather than polished aesthetics, the movement emphasised creative processes, intentional unfinishedness, and spontaneity. This exhibition at EMMA opens a new chapter in the history of Arte Povera by approaching the movement through the work of international women artists from modernism to the present. Featuring over 70 works, the exhibition includes pieces by Eva Hesse, Kaarina Kaikkonen, Marisa Merz and Nancy Spero.

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Arte Povera | Left: Bronwyn Katz, lui ! nans (one hailstone), 2023. Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection © Paula Virta / EMMA & right: Anu Põder, Space for My Body (Ruum minu ihu jaoks), 1995. Courtesy of Gianni Manhattan, Estate of Anu Põder, Tartu Art Museum © Hedi Jaansoo

The spring season culminates in Social Fabric, an exhibition that highlights current discussions in fashion in an immersive way. The exhibition takes a multidisciplinary approach to fashion's social and cultural phenomena, showcasing works ranging from garments to sculptures and video. Social Fabric is part of a series of fashion exhibitions held across the Nordic countries, curated by Ane Lynge-Jorlén from the Danish fashion platform ALPHA. The exhibition further deepens EMMA’s collaboration with Department of Fashion at Aalto University.

In the autumn, visitors are invited to stroll among chiming trees, courtesy of Antti Laitinen’s (b. 1975) installation for EMMA. Laitinen is the eighth artist in the InCollection exhibition series, where a commissioned work for the Saastamoinen Foundation’s collection becomes the centrepiece of an exhibition at EMMA. As typical of Laitinen’s work, this exhibition explores the relationship between humans and nature, and the passage of time, using elements of absurd humour. The artist creates a forest made of wood collected from Finnish forests, engaging multiple senses within an otherwise clinically white gallery space.

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InCollection | Antti Laitinen © Ari Karttunen / EMMA

A newly curated section also opens in Dialogues, an exhibition showcasing works from the Saastamoinen Foundation’s collection. Additionally, the 2025 programme will feature two new media art acquisitions: Dolle (2023) by Italian artist Diego Marconi, and The Genealogy of Violence (2023) by French-Algerian artist Mohamed Bourouissa.

The Collection Kakkonen exhibition, which features Finnish glass and ceramic art from the collection of honorary commercial counsellor Kyösti Kakkonen, will be refreshed during 2024. As the exhibition celebrates its second anniversary in November, new artworks will be added, including a special section on Finnish ryijy textiles. The updates will be completed by the end of November.

EMMA-produced exhibitions will also be showcased internationally. Following the conclusion of the Form exhibition in October this year, the museum will begin preparing for the journey of Tapio Wirkkala's works to Japan. Wirkkala's first extensive solo exhibition in Japan will tour various venues from 2025 to 2026.

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Children's Museum Festival © Paula Virta / EMMA

Children’s Museum Festival
The much-loved weekend event for young museum visitors will once again fill the museums of Tapiola with festive cheer in March 2025. Inspired by art, architecture and history, the Children’s Museum Festival offers family-friendly workshops, performances, music and more. 

Upcoming exhibitions in 2025

Draped – Art of Printed Fabrics 12.2.2025–
Karin Hellman 9.4.2025 - 1.2.2026
Arte Povera – A New Chapter 9.4.2025 - 1.2.2026
Social Fabric 23.5.2025 - 7.12.2025
InCollection: Antti Laitinen 24.9.2025 - 13.9.2026

Media works on display in 2025

Diego Marcon: Dolle 12.2.2025 - 7.9.2025
Mohamed Bourouissa: The Genealogy of Violence 24.9.2025 - 15.2.2026

Exhibitions continuing from 2024

Ulla Wiggen: Passage until 26 January 2025
Experiments in Concretism until 2 March 2025
InCollection | Tschabalala Self: Around the Way until 4 May 2025

Collection Exibitions
Collection Kakkonen
Bryk & Wirkkala Visible Storage
Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection: Dialogues

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Latest releases from EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art

Ryijys, glass and ceramics classics, and new acquisitions celebrate the second anniversary of Collection Kakkonen at EMMA26.11.2024 11:00:00 EET | Press release

Collection Kakkonen has gained a new, softer dimension with the addition of traditional ryijy textiles from the collection of Finnish businessman Kyösti Kakkonen. The exhibition also introduces a new section highlighting works by educators who have had a profound influence on Finnish design, alongside fresh acquisitions from contemporary artists Santtu Mustonen and Renata Schirm.

EMMA receives a significant donation from the Danish New Carlsberg Foundation: Poul Gernes’ artwork series added to the museum’s collection20.11.2024 09:15:00 EET | Press release

EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art has received a donation from the New Carlsberg Foundation to acquire a series of paintings by the Danish visual artist Poul Gernes. The donation of 2.5 million Danish kroner (approximately €330,000), has enabled the purchase of this multi-part artwork, which will be showcased at EMMA in 2025, marking the artist’s centenary.

EMMA har fått en betydande donation av den danska Ny Carlsberg-stiftelsen: Poul Gernes verk i flera delar blir en del av museets samling20.11.2024 09:15:00 EET | Pressmeddelande

EMMA – Esbo moderna konstmuseum har tagit emot en donation av konststiftelsen Ny Carlsbergfondet för att köpa in ett verk av bildkonstnären Gernes. Donationen för förvärvet av verket uppgår till 2,5 miljoner danska kronor, det vill säga cirka 330 000 euro. Verket kommer att visas på EMMA under konstnärens 100-års jubileumsår 2025.

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