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Press release 2/4 2015
WE LOVE WOOD(s)! wooden design objects are made in
collaboration
Onoma’s summer exhibition 2015 in Fiskars, Finland
The prototypes and first product series for the WE LOVE WOOD(s)! summer exhibition are now coming
into existence. Early this year, a number of selected designer/cabinet maker teams were commissioned
to envisage utility items of Finnish wood for export, and products are made of e.g. ash, birch, aspen,
pine and Lappish red-hearted pine. Wood is a local, ecological and organic material, but wood industry
products represent only 22 % of the value of Finnish forest industry export, which totalled 11,3 billion
euros in 2014 (source Customs). WE LOVE WOOD(s)! -project aims to boost export by means of highquality craft skills. The results of the effort can be evaluated from 24 May to 20 September at the Fiskars
Copper Smithy in Finland. The new products are for sale from 24 May on; inquiries can be made at the
exhibition and the Onoma Shop. You can also follow WE LOVE WOOD(s)! on Facebook/We love
woods, www.welovewoods page is opening later in May.
The designer/producer teams are: Timo Mikkonen and Heikki Aska, Linda Bergroth and Antrei
Hartikainen, Mia Cullin and Petri Koivusipilä, Susan Elo and Rudi Merz, Saara Renvall and Marco
Escartin, Kristian Gullichsen and Heikki Aska, Simo Heikkilä and Arto Salminen, Pekka
Helin and Hannu Raatikainen, Mari Isopahkala with Kari Virtanen and Matti Söderkultalahti, Manthey
Kula and Kari Virtanen, Laura Mattila and Mikko Merz, Tuula Pöyhönen and Rudi Merz, Karola
Sahi and Markku Soinio, Ben af Schultén and Kari Virtanen, Petri Vainio and Heikki Aska. Cabinet
makers Minja Kolehmainen, Tuulia Penttilä, Rudi Merz, Matti Söderkultalahti and Kari Virtanen have
also both designed and produced some of their products.
The participants are architects, interior architects, carpenters, cabinet makers and wood artisans varying
in age from twenty to eighty. That so many of them are women is most delightful, for both wood craft
and design are generally thought to be male-dominated. A great example is carpenter Miisa Hüter, who
has worked with a chisel to make a five-part wall relief of linden.
“Wood is a charming material of long-lasting, exquisite beauty that feels good in the hand. In Fiskars, the
symbiosis of insightful design and profound familiarity with material is now bringing forth new utility
items of high quality, unpretentiously embodying the philosophy of the beautiful everyday. The time of
superconsumption is over, and wood, so well known by us Finns, appears again as a topical alternative
material”, says architect Kirsi Gullichsen.
The multidisciplinary WE LOVE WOOD(s)! exhibition also studies the essence of wood from other
fascinating perspectives: in Karin Widnäs’s ceramic spruce branches one can see the bark beetle’s
mysterious, decorative paths, while artist Howard Smith has created individual small sculptures out of
found pieces of wood. Sound artist Olli Kari has made an installation using wooden instruments that play
with the subtle frequencies of wood itself. The performance of Saine Ensemble, “Trees always grow
upwards?” will gather the audience at the base of the oldest oak tree in the village.
The participants of the exhibition are Martti Aiha, Heikki Aska, Nanna Bayer, Linda Bergroth, Mia
Cullin, Kirsti Doukas, Susan Elo, Marco Escartin, Kirsi Gullichsen, Kristian Gullichsen, Lulu Halme, Antrei
Hartikainen, Sakari Hartikainen, Simo Heikkilä, Pekka Helin, Miisa Hüter, Teija
Isohauta, Mari Isopahkala, Olli Kari, Minja Kolehmainen, Petri Koivusipilä, Kotaro Kubo, Manthey Kula,
Mattila & Merz , Rudi Merz, Timo Mikkonen, Jukka Mäkelä, Jussi Nordberg, Ron Nordström, Piitu
Nykopp, Tuulia Penttilä, Tuula Pöyhönen, Hannu Raatikainen,Saara Renvall, Jenni Roininen, Kristian
Saarikorpi, Karola Sahi, Saine Ensemble, Arto Salminen, Ben af Schultén,Howard Smith, Markku
Soinio, Matti Söderkultalahti, Petri Vainio, Kari Virtanen, Knut Wold, Laura Väre, Ines
Wartiainen and Karin Widnäs.
The exhibition working group members are Kirsi Gullichsen, Cati Aiha, Kari Virtanen, Petri
Koivusipilä, Tuula Saari, Susan Elo, Pekka Helin, Leena Kuumola and Kari Selkälä. Communications Aila
Svenskberg , web assistant Heidi Valkola. Graphic design by Jonatan Eriksson, TSTO.
The corporate collaborators of WE LOVE WOOD(s)! are: Nordea Private Banking, Artek and Fiskars
Oyj. The Askon Säätiö Foundation, the Metsämiesten Säätiö Foundation, The Ministry of Education and
Culture and The Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland have supported the exhibition. Other material
e.g. supporters areBACSAC, GardenShop Tahvoset, Fiskarin Laatupuu Oy, Friman Resor, Habitek, Kekkilä
Oy, LähiTapiola Etelärannikko, Nikaksi Oy, Nikari Oy, Olof Ekman Oy Ab, Quantum Beverages Oy and
Tikkurila Oyj.
WE LOVE WOOD(s)! 24.5.–20.9.2015
Open every day 11 am–6 pm
Fiskars, Copper Smithy, Finland
www.onoma.org
Communications, photo requests:
Aila Svenskberg, +358 41 538 7533
aila.svenskberg@gmail.com
Visit Facebook/We love wood(s)