Kollektivet – Picture Book Illustration from Finland
Exhibition from 23 May to 18 July 2026
Inauguration on Friday, 22 May 2026 from 6pm to 8pm
From 23 May to 18 July 2026 at Institut finlandais, Kollektivet features art by a selection of the best Finnish artists and picture book illustrators: Linda Bondestam, Jenni Erkintalo, Lena Frölander-Ulf, Edith Hammar, Maija Hurme, Erika Kallasmaa, Jenny Lucander, Laura Merz, Sanna Pelliccioni and Maria Sann. Together they invite us into a playful, thought-provoking and inclusive world of picture book art that does not shy away from difficult subjects or hope. Picture books are works of art in themselves. In this exhibition, the illustrators’ selected works are brought together under one roof, devoting each artist an own space, while providing an insight into the process from sketch to print-ready material.
The Finnish picture book is currently enjoying momentum thanks to the long-term and courageous work done in favour of the book by publishers, researchers and donors. Several of the artists in the exhibition have won awards both internationally and in the Nordic countries. They represent a group of artists who are constantly and courageously challenging the form of what a picture book is and should be and constantly producing new books.
Kollektivet aims to raise the status of children’s culture. Picture book illustration is an artistic genre in its own right and the exhibition challenges the division between ‘culture’ and ‘children’s culture’. All high-quality culture is culture, regardless of its target audience.
The exhibition welcomes those who are interested in illustration, those who want to see the world from a child’s perspective and those who want to experience the magic of storytelling!
MARK YOUR CALENDARS!
19, 20 & 21 MAY
Witness the magic unfold! Kollektivet illustrators will come together to turn Café Maa’s main wall into a vibrant mural, during opening hours.
FRIDAY 22 MAY
Opening in presence of the artists from 6 to 8pm, free entry!
The exhibition is created by Jenny Ingman, Mia-Irene Sundqvist, Andrei Palomäki and Johanna Stenback in collaboration with Moomin Characters, Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, Brita Maria Renlund Memorial Foundation, Amos Anderson Fund and Tre Smeder Foundation. Foundation.
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