The concept of the exhibition featuring Saastamoinen Foundation's Art Collection at EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art is being renewed. The exhibition will be renewed section by section, the first of which will open to the public on November 24, 2023.
The new Dialogues exhibition is based on curatorial juxtapositions that showcase the foundation's recent acquisitions. The new concept marks the continuation of the extensive collaboration between Saastamoinen Foundation and EMMA, highlighting the diversity of what is one of Finland’s most significant art collections.
Dialogues introduces a new concept in the presentation of the Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection. The exhibition features pairs or groups of works that engage in free dialogue with one another, encouraging visitors to compare and draw parallels between them. The exhibition is an invitation to engage in dialogue or conversation, that will hopefully foster myriad interpretations. The curation is a joint effort between art experts from Saastamoinen Foundation and EMMA, and the display will be refreshed section by section with new groups of works.
The exhibition showcases both Finnish and international artists. The artists featured in the first renewed section are Henni Alftan, Rasheed Araeen, Jesse Darling, A K Dolven, Giorgio Griffa, Åsa Hellman, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Roni Horn, Emma Jääskeläinen, Lucy McKenzie, Olli Keränen, Christine Sun Kim, Lee Lozano, Leena Luostarinen, Sandra Mujinga, Rashaad Newsome, Berenice Olmedo, Sini Pelkki, Silja Rantanen, Maja Ruznic, Kain Tapper, Rose Wylie and Haegue Yang.
The Saastamoinen Foundation's Art Collection is one Finland’s most prestigious collections of Finnish and international art. It is augmented regularly with new acquisitions. Today the collection comprises nearly 3,000 works owned by Saastamoinen Foundation and deposited at EMMA. Saastamoinen Foundation is EMMA's founding partner and one of the museum’s longest-standing collaborators.
"The first extensive showing of the Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection coincided with the opening of EMMA in 2006. Over the years, our collaboration has deepened and is constantly finding new forms. I am delighted that the Dialogues exhibition presents our latest acquisitions in rich dialogue with existing works from the collection. It brings to light the collection’s layered history in a very fresh way,” says Päivi Karttunen, Chair of the Saastamoinen Foundation Arts Committee.
The Dialogues exhibition will coincide with a new publication showcasing the foundation’s recent acquisitions. 30 Works from the Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection was produced by the foundation to form a companion volume to a publication of the same name published in 2018.
Photos:
Leena Luostarinen, Nefertiti in the Garden of Fragrances, 1998
Rasheed Araeen, Chaar Pellay, 1968–2017
Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection © Paula Virta / EMMA