Espoo Museum of Modern Art
A Diverse Autumn of Events at EMMA!
EMMA’s autumn season offers a rich and varied programme for all ages. Discussions will explore themes such as disability, fashion, museum collections, forests, and representations of war. The season also includes experimental music and dance, guided tours offering fresh perspectives, creative workshops, and a special opening event for children. See our highlights below and explore the full programme on EMMA’s website!
The season begins on Saturday, 23 August with a discussion event titled The Great Lie About Disability, organised in collaboration with the Outsider Art Festival (OAF) and Exhibition Centre WeeGee. Authors Riikka Leinonen and Sofia Tawast, together with poet Sanni Purhonen, will discuss prejudices related to disability and the possibilities of making art. The theme of prejudices is also explored in EMMA’s Queer Tours, held on Friday evenings during free admission hours. The tours are open to all and offer a chance to engage with current exhibitions through the lens of gender and sexual diversity. On Friday 26 September, EMMA will be filled with diversity of sound during PianoEspoo: Pulses Around the Museum, where the tones of piano, synthesizers, and toy piano resonate throughout the museum.
On Sunday 7 September, Swedish textile expert Maria Jernkvist will give a lecture (in English) on the magic of Finnish fabrics. The day before, EMMA’s weekly Open Art Workshop invites visitors to sculpt accessories of the future. The theme of fashion continues on 14 September, when Aalto University students Nhung Huynh and Kuutti Lemetyinen, featured in the Social Fabric exhibition, present their work with material samples. On Thursday 2 October, EMMA and Aalto University co-host a panel discussion on fashion and contemporary challenges, featuring designers Lauri Greis and Rolf Ekroth, and Professor of Textile Design Maarit Salolainen. The event, held at Aalto’s Marsio building, is moderated by EMMA’s Chief Curator and Social Fabric co-curator Reetta Kalajo.
The exhibition Chiming Forest by artist Antti Laitinen, part of the InCollection series by EMMA and the Saastamoinen Foundation, opens on 23 September. The opening will be celebrated with an EMMA Talks event, where Laitinen will be joined by Päivi Karttunen, Chair of the Saastamoinen Foundation’s Art Committee. On the same day, children are invited to their own opening event, where they can explore the exhibition and create forest-inspired characters from cardboard. The forest theme continues in November with the WeeGee Reads event, held in the heart of Laitinen’s exhibition.
On Saturday 11 October, the guided tour Art and Images of War delves into war-related themes in the exhibitions Karin Hellman and Arte Povera – A New Chapter. The tour features researcher Noora Kotilainen, an expert on war imagery, and EMMA’s curators Tuomas Laulainen and Nella Aarne. Art’s ability to address social issues is also explored in Moi-femme, je-femme, a dance piece by Karoliina Loimaala, performed on 8 and 26 October. The work translates thoughts inspired by the writings of French feminist thinker Hélène Cixous into movement. In addition to Moi-femme, je-femme, EMMA will host two other performances, GARNNN and Voler, écrire, lance-pierre, by Loimaala during the autumn season.
