Mysterious moss giants take over Lasipalatsi Square – Amos Rex’s exhibition invites us to ask questions and dream fearlessly like children

Wanderer is one of four bright-green, giant-like figures who have temporarily set up camp in the courtyard at Lasipalatsi Square and on the terrace of Bio Rex. Kim Simonsson’s (b. 1974) are about four metres high and communicate with each other through Finnish sign language. They have been acquired for Konstsamfundet, which has one of Finland’s most extensive private art collections.

Kim Simonsson is available for on-site interviews in Helsinki on 22–26 April.

The moss giants’ long journey home passes through the centre of Helsinki

The giants – Wanderer, Collector, Friendship and Bringer of Light – are on their way home to the forest. During the summer, they will take a break at Lasipalatsi Square, after which they will gradually continue to their final destination: a leafy forest glade at Amos Anderson’s summer residence, Söderlångvik manor on Kimito Island. There they will stay permanently, gradually becoming part of the forest ecosystem.

“I had a vision of a large moss figure in the forest, so people would accidentally meet a friendly giant in the woods. That dream will now become a reality, with the four giants moving to a forest glade at Söderlångvik,” Simonsson says. 

The moss giants will be discoverable in the forest at Söderlångvik from spring 2025 onwards.

Simonsson describes his giants as utopian moss children. He has given each individual in the group their own specific task, with each task being equally important. One carries tools, while another has skis on his back. It is also worth paying attention to the moss giants’ hands, which play an important role: they communicate with each other, and with the outside world in sign language.

Sculptor Kim Simonsson lives and works in the artists’ village of Fiskars in Western Uusimaa. He has been working with ceramic moss figures for almost a decade – the moss giants are his most large-scale works so far.

The Moss Giants will be at Lasipalatsi Square 29 April–20 October 2024. The exhibition is curated by Kai Kartio.

Sign language is for everyone 

Sign language is a visual language used by deaf, hard-of-hearing, and hearing people. It consists of various signs, combining facial expressions, hand body and mouth movements. Two different sign languages are used in Finland: Finland-Swedish and Finnish Sign Language, which is also used by Kim Simonsson’s Moss Giants.

Spring exhibitions 

Amos Rex’s Spring exhibitions offer experiences for our emotions and all of our senses – the first-ever collections exhibition I feel, for now and Josefina Nelimarkka’s studio exhibition The Cloud of Un/knowing. The exhibitions are open 27 March – 8 Sept 2024.