The Fiskars Granary

Funny how one thing leads to another, especially on the net. A while back I had bookmarked for future study an exhibition announcement in Art Daily called ‘Fiskars Art Center presents Remix-Rethought’. Fiskars? The Finnish scissor company? Yes, and there is a place in Finland called Fiskars that I didn’t know about. This tickled my Finnish funny bone.

I found a lovely website for Fiskars Village. It was founded in 1649 and today is known as a center of craft, design and art in a beautiful valley in Southern Finland. I enjoyed the virtual walk around the village and its beautifully restored historic buildings. The village site lists news and the many exhibitions and events.

Some interesting history here! When the old Fiskars Ironworks (est.1649) ceased during the 1980’s the town became uninhabited. The beautiful surroundings and vacant premises lured a number of craftsmen, designers and artists to the village. Eventually they formed The Artisans, Designers and Artists of Fiskars Co-operative. They hold numerous high quality exhibitions that have witnessed growing attendance numbers.

This year the main exhibition is the Remix-Rethought exhibition that I first read about in Art Daily. There’s also an exciting touring exhibition in Japan, Fiskars Design Village. The Artist Residency program for foreign craftsmen, designer and artist professionals also sounds very tempting.

Finnish readers will enjoy this lovely article by Eija Mäkinen* about Fiskars’ artists, artisans and designers. (*Update: this site no longer exists so link has been removed.)

So, guess what town we are going to visit on our next trip to Finland? I think I’d be tempted to move to Fiskars, and it’s not far from Helsinki!