Suomen Käsityön Ystävät

In Good Hands – The Friends of Finnish Handicraft 140 Year Jubilee Exhibition
24 Jan – 22 March 2020
Designmuseum, Helsinki

At the beginning of January 2020, the exhibition In Good Hands will open in Design Museum’s Gallery. In this exhibition, four contemporary designers interpret archive materials from the Friends of Finnish Handicraft from over a period of a hundred years. The archive of the Friends of Finnish Handicraft organization in the collection of Design Museum consists of some 6,500 fabric design samples, watercolour sketches, and woven textiles. Textile designer Hanna-Kaisa Korolainen, fashion designer Henna Lampinen, ceramicist Matias Liimatainen and game designer Henri Tervapuro have created new works and products based on the archive material, combining traditional handicrafts techniques and technology. This exhibition is produced in association with the Friends of Finnish Handicraft and will be on display from 24 January until 22 March 2020.

More information at the Design Museum site.

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Lunch Talk: In Good Hands
Friday 24 Jan, 1 pm
Designmuseum, Helsinki

Design Museum’s Lunch Talk is a forum where the professionals behind each new exhibition offer insight into the themes. The curators of In Good Hands exhibition, Kieran Long and Riikka Latva-Somppi, will discuss the idea of craft today in relation to the traditions and materials of craft from the history of The Friends of the Finnish Handicrafts. Moderated by Annika Nyberg-Frankenhaeuser.

More information at the Design Museum site.

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Design Evening
Tuesday 28 Jan, 4 pm – 8 pm
Designmuseo, Helsinki
Free admission

Meet designers of the new exhibition In Good Hands in the free Design Evening

January’s Design Evening points the focus to the recently opened exhibition In Good Hands. Fashion designer Henna Lampinen, ceramicist Matias Liimatainen and textile designer Hanna-Kaisa Korolainen will engage in discussions about their works with the audience. The programme also includes guided tours and an open workshop where you can create your own reflector. Admission and all the activities are free of charge all evening.

More information at the Design Museum site.

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Picture: Hanna-Kaisa Korolainen, 2019

BRAND NEW RYA RUGS ALKU AND ILMA

Our brand new rya rugs Alku and Ilma, designed by Ilkka Kärkkäinen, are now available at our web store.

Here is some thoughts of the designers about the work:

I have been inspired by the Finnish nature, just like so many other Finnish designers through the ages. Although now the theme is even more important than ever before because of the climate change.

I gave my rya rugs the names Alku (the Beginning) and Ilma (the Air, the Ether). Alku rya rug draws from the mystic world of Kalevala: the beginning of the world and the Duck Egg the world was born from. I have made my own simple and graphic version of the theme.

Ilma is a pair to Alku rya rug, but it works as an independent piece of art as well. The motifs refer to shapes of nature: stones, forest, grain, and clouds, and the colours are shades of the Finnish autumn. Ilma rya rug is designed to remind us of the meaning and the importance of pure nature for us and our descendants.

As a graphic designer, I really like the small size of the rya rugs, because the 50 cm × 70 cm size is a familiar format to me as I have designed several posters during my career. It was a great opportunity to be able to design these graphic motifs, executed with the centuries old weaving technique, that will be displayed on people’s home.

The design process brought to my mind also the beginning of the information age with all its pixels, because the designing grid reminded me of the first simple desktop publishing programs from the 80’s. Without the cooperation with the top professionals and the weaver, this work wouldn’t have been finished.

So, once again, I thank you for the great opportunity to be a part of all this!”

We also want to thank Ilkka for the great cooperation and the beautiful designs!