Touch exhibition’s new section, Listening to Silence, explores the inner emotional world of humans

The exhibition will be presented to the media on Tuesday, October 26, at 10.00 am. The accompanying media event will be hosted simultaneously online and in-person at the museum. Please register and address any requests for interviews to: iris.suomi@emmamuseum.fi. Follow the press event via this link.

The Touch exhibition is one of EMMA’s permanent exhibitions and a highly exceptional collection exhibition, as it is renewed regularly through new works and sections. The exhibition has been curated through a core theme of humanity, with different parts of the exhibition addressing the relationship between humans and the surrounding reality from varying thematic starting points. Listening to Silence, which now opens as a new section, consists of works exploring the inner world of humans – past events, traumas and ways of processing them, along with the joy of playing. 

The display bears the name of Juhani Linnovaara’s Listening to Silence painting, which has been the starting point for the curation process. “Linnovaara’s piece depicts a still moment. The character of the painting has sunk into their own inner world, yet the surrounding things have great significance. We wanted to include pieces thematically connected to this painting in the section,” says one of the exhibition’s curators and EMMA’s Chief Curator Henna Paunu. 

The section combines Finnish and international art from different eras, all the way from modernism to the present day. The works form an interactive and thematic entity, which explores the essence of being human and the different meanings of silence. “Seeking silence is a part of being human. It can mean a connection to one’s inner world and a dialogue with oneself. Silence can also happen together. It can be tormenting or soothing. Silence can be about saying nothing, keeping secrets or injustices inside. Being silent means slowing down, finding your pace and a balance to continuous growth and change,” the exhibition’s curators reflect. Listening to Silence turns the gaze inward into the emotional world of humans and calls for a meditative reflection beside art. 

Listening to Silence has been curated by a four-person work group consisting of EMMA’s experts: curators Laura Kokkonen, Tuomas Laulainen and Pernilla Wiik and Chief Curator Henna Paunu. The display features a diverse collection of photographs, paintings, sculptures, graphic arts and media pieces. The section presents works by artists Erika Adamsson, Alexander Calder, Kristjan Gudmundsson, Karoliina Hellberg, Heli Hiltunen, Eetu Huhtala, Frida Hultcrantz, Ben Kaila, Jannis Kounellis, John Kørner, Antti Laitinen, Pirkko Lepistö, Juhani Linnovaara, Olli Lyytikäinen, J.O. Mallander, Marjatta Nuoreva, Hanna Saarikoski, Diane Simpson, Suvi Sysi and Eulàlla Valldosera. During 2022, the Touch exhibition’s media space will feature a series of three media pieces as part of the now opening entity: Erkan Özgen’sWonderland, Jeannette Ehlers’Black Bullets and Maija Blåfield’sThe Fantastic. 

EMMA’s overarching theme for the year is the power of art. The wide display, which consists of Finnish and international contemporary art and modernism, highlights the different dimensions of the human emotional world and basic questions of being human. Bringing together older and newer works of the Saastamoinen Foundation Collection gives rise to aspects of humanity that are present throughout time.