Espoo Museum of Modern Art
Diverse Festive Traditions Take Centre Stage in EMMA’s Spring Events
EMMA turns 20 in October, but the celebrations already begin in the spring – together with everyone! Our spring events highlight occasions such as Sámi National Day, Chinese New Year and International Romani Day. The annual Children’s Museum Festival returns in March with a birthday theme, and the season also brings the launch of the museum’s first-ever Quiz Nights.
On Sámi National Day, 6 February, poet Niillas Holmberg and saxophonist Pauli Lyytinen perform a concert in which poetry and joik blend with diverse instruments into a singular soud. The concert is part of the monthly WeeGee Live series, created in collaboration with April Jazz Festival and Exhibition Centre WeeGee. Admission to the Friday evening concerts is free.
The celebration of Sámi National Day continues the following week. On Friday, 13 February, Reetta Tornensis talks about her path to becoming a maker of duodji, traditional Sámi crafts. The next day, on Saturday, 14 February, Tornensis leads an open art workshop where participants can decorate colourful migratory birds and explore duodji techniques.
In addition to Tornensis, EMMA’s popular open Saturday Art Workshops will feature other guest instructors throughout the spring. Already the following week, we celebrate the Lunar New Year as artist duo Lù Chén & Burak Türköz guide participants in making and decorating paper lanterns. The day also includes a performance by the Jade Community’s Chinese-language dance group.
On 4 April, International Romani Day is honored with a concert of traditional Romani songs from Finland and beyond, performed by Anette Åkerlund. The event also includes insights into the history of Finnish Romani people and a flamenco performance.
The highly anticipated Children’s Museum Festival brings a festive atmosphere to the Tapiola museums on the weekend of 21–22 March. This anniversary year, the theme is birthdays. The programme is created together with multicultural families from Espoo. Families can also enjoy February’s Art Break and the Art Play for Babies sessions designed for babies under one year and their parents.
In mid-March, EMMA opens its main exhibition of the year, In Search of the Present, the international group exhibition is an exploration of the now and an invitation to be present both in time and in place. As part of the exhibition, Nurture, a performance examining themes of body, gender and coexistence through care and breastfeeding, will be presented from March to August. The piece is created by the interdisciplinary art collective WAUHAUS and the performance and live art collective Reality Research Center (TTK).
Care is also at the heart of Gabriela Aldana’s The Act of Caring. In performances held on 16 and 17 May, the caregiver and the cared-for meet through touch. Visitors may choose to experience being cared for or simply observe for as long as they wish. On 17 May, spring and the beginning of the blooming season are celebrated in the spirit of the Japanese hanami tradition.
New this spring is a series of fun Quiz Nights organised in collaboration with Baaripähkinä and Delicatessen WeeGee. The quizzes focus on music, film, TV series, literature, visual arts and popular culture. Before each quiz, visitors can join a 30-minute museum tour offering tips for some of the questions.
Explore the spring programme in our event calendar! We also host monthly online events for EMMA newsletter subscribers, including artist talks and guided tours. You can stay informed by subscribing to our club newsletter (in Finnish). The schedule of our weekly public guided tours can be found on the Finnish event page.
