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

8.10.2024 11:00:00 EEST | EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art | Press release

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

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.

null — 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.

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.

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.

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.

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

Keywords

EMMA - Espoo Museum of Modern Art exhibition art exhibition arte povera design art modernism contemporary art karin hellman antti laitinen fashion fabrics

Contacts

Iris SuomiChief Marketing Communications SpecialistEMMA – Espoon modernin taiteen museo

Tel:+358447601930iris.suomi@emmamuseum.fi

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The Sculptor of Ultima Thule presenterar Tapio Wirkkalas verk – mästaren i form och material – för den japanska publiken i en omfattande utställning för första gången. Retrospektiven öppnar lördagen den 5 april 2025 på Tokyo Station Gallery och firar konstnärens 110-årsjubileum med en omfattande helhet på 300 verk. Under 2025–2026 kommer utställningen att turnera till olika platser i Japan.

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INVITATION for media: Press event for exhibitions Karin Hellman and Arte Povera – A New Chapter on Tuesday, 8 April at 10 am in EMMA25.3.2025 14:00:00 EET | Press invitation

Two new exhibitions are opening at EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art. The first major museum exhibition of Karin Hellman will showcase the artist’s diverse art that experiments with various materials and techniques. Hellman’s work draws parallels with the Arte Povera – A New Chapter exhibition opening simultaneously in the adjacent space. The exhibition celebrates the expressive power of simple materials in the works of both contemporary artists and contemporaries of the movement. Welcome to the press event!

INBJUDAN till media: Presskonferens för utställningarna Karin Hellman och Arte povera – Ett nytt kapitel, tisdagen den 8 april kl. 10 på EMMA25.3.2025 14:00:00 EET | Pressinbjudan

Två nya utställningar öppnar på EMMA – Esbo moderna konstmuseum. Nu visas den första museiutställningen med Karin Hellmans mångsidiga konst, som leker med olika material och tekniker. Hellmans produktion knyter an till utställningen Arte povera – Ett nytt kapitel, som öppnas samtidigt i utrymmet strax intill. Denna utställning hyllar uttryckskraften hos enkla material, både i verk av samtida konstnärer och av konstnärer som verkade under arte povera-rörelsens tidiga år. Välkommen till presskonferensen!

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