STILL / LIFE – Tapio Wirkkala Retrospective Exhibition at Siida 24.3.–25.9.2016

The exhibition has been curated and designed by Harri Koskinen, an internationally renowned designer.

- I saw Tapio’s Iittala products for the first time at the ironmonger’s of Karstula as a teenager, and wondered right away who this guy was, Koskinen tells. -My own career has helped me to see him as a charismatic, persistent aesthete, who had an incredibly comprehensive understanding of the field. It was not just work; it was a way of life.

The exhibition spotlights the objects and life work of Tapio Wirkkala. It consists of two parts. The part LIFE presents Wirkkala through the themes of work and life, working processes, trips and the background of creative work. It displays, for example, personal objects that were important for Wirkkala, such as the pipe and knife that he always had with him. The part STILL showcases Tapio Wirkkala as a versatile artist, displaying a variety of works from Venetian coloured glass to plywood sculptures.

Lapland meant a great deal for Tapio Wirkkala. From the 1950s on, he spent all his summers in Inari. Wirkkala was one of the most international Finnish artists of his time, and he often worked simultaneously on several projects. He took his work to the north, too: he was not only on a holiday in Lapland.  Being in Lapland became a way of survival for him. Tapio Wirkkala was also interested in the lives and future of the local people. The Sámi Museum had a special meaning for Tapio Wirkkala, as he created, together with his son Sami Wirkkala, the first sketches and scale models of the museum in 1984.

The exhibition is open at the Sámi Museum and Northern Lapland Nature Centre Siida in Inari from 24 March to 25 September 2016.