Design capital year seen in Helsinki museums and galleries
Helsinki is World Design Capital 2012, together with Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen and Lahti. The design year will bring to Finnish museums and galleries an unprecedented number and variety of design exhibitions. The programme of World Design Capital Helsinki 2012 now includes more than 90 exhibitions at some 30 venues. More events will be added to the exhibition programme during the coming months.
The pillar of the exhibition programme is the offerings of Design Museum and Museum of Finnish Architecture. A temporary pavilion built between the museums for the summer months 2012 will be an important exhibition venue and serve as a meeting place for the design capital. The pavilion’s programme will be published in early 2012.
One of the themes in the exhibitions is the dialogue between art and design. Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma’s Camouflage gathers together 15 artists, designers and collectives to tear down the fences between the disciplines. Vantaa Art Museum’s Beauty – 6 episodes explores the relationship of design and visual art with three-dimensional dioramas.
Another theme in the exhibitions is social and ecological responsibility. The largest exhibition of the year, placed in a public space, is INDEX: Award Exhibition by Danish-based INDEX:, a non-profit organization committed to “Design to Improve Life”. The exhibition presents the possibilities of design from heated child carrier bags to bicycling helmets provided with airbags.
Helinä Rautavaara Museum in the WeeGee centre in Espoo presents practices that Finnish design professionals have used to support local groups in Africa and Asia. Lahti Art Museum’s Ecolandia explores the future through ecological thinking and spatial design.
Helsinki City Museum’s Made in Helsinki takes visitors to the roots of Finnish design through products and their Helsinki-based producers from the 18th century to the present. Another exhibition leads visitors to the visual world of films shot in Helsinki in the 1930’s to 60’s. The exhibitions of the Helsinki City Planning Department’s Laituri gallery, Virka Gallery at Helsinki City Hall and Helsinki City Art Museum’s three branches support the World Design Capital programme. Admission is free to the City Museum, Laituri and Virka.
More on the programme of World Design Capital Helsinki 2012
