New exhibition concept spurs dialogue between works from the Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection

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 EMMA and Saastamoinen Foundation, and the display will be reconfigured section by section with new groups of works. 

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.

“It’s wonderful that we at EMMA can offer our audiences diverse, ever-fresh art experiences with the help of the constantly expanding Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection,” enthuses EMMA’s Chief Curator Henna Paunu. “Dialogues presents the collection in an intriguing way that challenges the viewer to see the works from new perspectives.” 

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. Saastamoinen Foundation is EMMA's founding partner and one of the museum’s longest-standing collaborators. The foundation’s collection was entrusted to EMMA as a deposit when the museum was founded. Today the collection comprises nearly 3,000 works owned by Saastamoinen Foundation and deposited at EMMA. 

"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 collection originated in the 1910s as the private collection of a Kuopio-based industrialist family in eastern Finland. The foundation was established in 1968 to promote social progress through art and science and to support the expansion, preservation and presentation of the art collection. A rotating pick of works from the collection are on permanent display at EMMA. A selection of EMMA-curated works owned by the foundation are additionally on view in public spaces around Espoo.  

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.