Season I / Spring – Summer

The group exhibition Listen to the Forest that Grows, the most recent collaboration between Institut finlandais and Katja Hagelstam of Lokal Gallery, presents a selection of artworks, craftsmanship, and design.

This first season celebrates the blooming of spring and the reawakening of nature after winter hibernation, featuring bird photographs of unusual beauty by Sanna Kannisto, the Luonnon Suojelija (Nature Conservationist) sculptures by Katy Hertell along with a selection of everyday objects sustainably handcrafted in Finland from wood, ceramic or glass. 

Recreating the intimacy of a home, the exhibition creates a dialogue between the artwork and everyday objects in the unique space designed by Juhani Pallasmaa, entirely renovated by Pekka Littow’s architect practice (Littow Architects) and decorated by Studio Joanna Laajisto in 2018.

Thus, Melissa Sammalvaara’s tapestry, specially commissioned by Institut finlandais, decorates the wall of the café, the birds photographed with Sanna Kannisto’s meticulous eye take over the walls of the gallery and the handcrafted objects are both displayed on the shelves of the gallery and integrated to the daily activity of the café in order to immerse visitors in the beauty of everyday life.

Completed by temporary pieces, the exhibition is partly composed of pieces from the Lokal Kollection, a selection of handcrafted objects designed and made exclusively for the Lokal gallery in Helsinki on the initiative of its founder Katja Hagelstam, presenting the works of the following artists among others: Saija Halko, Antrei Hartikainen, Renata Jakowleff, Veera Kulju, Nathalie Lautenbacher et Yoshimasa Yamada.

This collection was inspired by the wish to share Finnish contemporary art and craftsmanship in France, and to support, in a more permanent way, the designers and creators working in Finland.

Through this new curatorial proposal, Institut finlandais also wishes to slow down its exhibition cycle and inaugurate a new, more organic, flexible and sustainable way of developing the program.

Presenting the following artists:

SAIJA HALKO

ANTREI HARTIKAINEN

KATY HERTELL

RENATA JAKOWLEFF

SANNA KANNISTO

LEENA KOUHIA

VEERA KULJU

HANNA-KAISA KOROLAINEN

NATHALIE LAUTENBACHER

LINDA LAITINEN

MAIJA PUOSKARI

MELISSA SAMMALVAARA

EVA SPOOF

YOSHIMASA YAMADA

 

Exhibition open 26 April – 30 July 2022