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EMMA presents, does research on and handles broad collections, including a total of almost 13 000 works. The collections, which are continually expanded, include Finnish and international contemporary art, modern art and design. Apart from the museum’s own collections, the collections of the Saastamoinen Foundation, the Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Foundation and the Lars-Gunnar Nordström Foundation are deposited in the museum, as well as a significant part of the design collection Collection Kakkonen.

EMMA-collection

Vesa-Pekka Rannikko: Vuo – virrat yhdistyvät, 2020. © Paula Virta / EMMA

The EMMA Collection

The EMMA Collection, which has its focus on modernism and contemporary art, includes more than 3 000 artworks. It was built around the Espoo City Art Collection, which started its activity in the 1950ies through artworks acquired to schools in Espoo. A large part of the works of the EMMA Collection are deposited in public spaces in Espoo as well as in the cityscape. The EMMA Collection is being expanded mainly through topical contemporary art having a connection to the museum exhibitions.

In addition, EMMA has received several smaller collections as donations, such as the collection of Osmo Valtonen who is known for his kinetic art; the Hellman Collection consisting of works by Karin, Åke and Åsa Hellman; the collection consisting of the pioneering photographic art of Marjukka Vainio, and the Nokia Collection of Contemporary Art. The museum’s educational collection Art Pack has been created to enliven art workshops and guided tours.

EMMA collection
Saastamoisen foundation art collection

Ola Kolehmainen: Hagia Sophia Year 537 III, 2014. © Ella Tommila / EMMA

The Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection

The Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection is one of the most important collections of contemporary art in Finland. Works of both Finnish and international art are actively being added to it. The basis for the collection is the private art collection of an industrial family from Kuopio. The Saastamoinen Foundation Art Collection has been displayed at EMMA ever since the museum was founded, at expositions organized sometimes chronologically and sometimes thematically. From 2014 onwards, it has been possible to see the collection exhibition Touch, which is regularly renewed and whose theme is humanity seen from different perspectives. In the autumn of 2018, a new form of cooperation was initiated, according to which the foundation annually orders a work by a current and interesting contemporary artist for its collection, and around this work an exhibition showing the production of the artist in question is curated.

saastamoinenfoundation.fi


Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Foundation collection

Rut Bryk: Kevätpilvet, 1981. © Ari Karttunen / EMMA

The Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Foundation Collection

The Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Foundation Collection is based on the artists’ personal work archives. Rut Bryk (1916–1999) and Tapio Wirkkala (1915–1985) are among the central modernists of Finnish art and design. The broad and profound collection, based on the works of Bryk and Wirkkala, includes artworks, design objects, sketches, prototypes and archive materials. Since 2017, the collection is on permanent display in the Bryk & Wirkkala Visible Storage at EMMA.

wirkkalabryk.fi
Collection Kakkonen

Kristina Riska, Alma Jantunen, Gunnel Nyman, Nanny Still, Birger Kaipiainen and Michael Schilkin. © Ari Karttunen / EMMA

Collection Kakkonen

Kyösti Kakkonen is a Finnish businessman and notable collector of art and design. He has assembled a major collection of over 10,000 objects that holds significant heritage value, comprising both Finnish and international masterpieces from the late 19th century to the present day. Collection Kakkonen will now feature in a display opening in November 2022 in a new space at WeeGee Exhibition Centre. The new exhibit is part of a long-term partnership agreement signed in 2020 by Kyösti Kakkonen, EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art and the City of Espoo. Over 1,300 works from Collection Kakkonen have been deposited at EMMA, highlighting its core, which consists of Finnish ceramic and glass art.

collectionkakkonen.fi



Collections