Espoo Museum of Modern Art
Finnish Ryijy Textiles to Complement Glass and Ceramics of Collection Kakkonen at the End of 2024
Collection Kakkonen, the largest exhibition project in the history of EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art, will celebrate its second anniversary in November. The collection, which features Finnish ceramics and glass art, will be enriched with a new, softer dimension: a selection of Finnish ryijy textiles from the collection of businessman Kyösti Kakkonen. Alongside the refreshed exhibition, a new section will open that showcases the work of influential teachers who have left a lasting impact on Finnish design.
EMMA will mark the two years of the hugely popular Collection Kakkonen exhibition with new additions. The updates will be installed gradually over the autumn season, beginning in September 2024, with the new exhibition ready for public viewing in the last week of November. For safety reasons, certain areas will be cordoned off during the changeover, but most of the exhibition space will remain open to visitors as usual.
The new Ryijy Gallery section at Collection Kakkonen strengthens EMMA’s commitment to design, featuring textiles of artistic, cultural, and historical importance. Displayed alongside ceramic and glass objects, the ryijys highlight the interwoven history of these three genres. In his collecting, Kyösti Kakkonen has focused on the works of renowned Finnish ryijy designers. The new display will include around 15 pieces from the 1930s to the 1980s by various artists, including Uhra-Beata Simberg-Ehrström.
The Teachers of Design section presents six artists who have made a significant impact, both as educators and creators, on the development of original and exceptional design expertise in Finland. The new section includes works by Arttu Brummer, Elsa Elenius, Alfred William Finch, Kaj Franck, Kyllikki Salmenhaara and Timo Sarpaneva, further deepening the selection of glass and ceramics of Collection Kakkonen.
In addition to these new sections, the exhibition will be updated by switching out some of the pieces and adding recent acquisitions, such as Loose Order of Events (2023), a work combining glass and video by artist Santtu Mustonen.
EMMA is an art museum that specialises in exploring the dialogue between visual arts, design, and architecture. Collection Kakkonen and its dedicated exhibition space at EMMA is built upon a long-term loan of artworks from the collection of over 10,000 pieces by Finnish businessman and collector Kyösti Kakkonen. The collection display, curated by EMMA curator Aura Vilkuna, presents a comprehensive selection of works from the growing collection of over 1,400 pieces on loan at EMMA. To be launched at the end of the year, this is the first update of the exhibition since its inauguration in November 2022.
