Friends & Friends – 100 % Finnish

Celebrating its 130th anniversary year, The Friends of Finnish Handicraft displays tradition in new forms.

The Friends of Finnish Handicraft association was created 130 years ago in response to a manifesto exhorting Finnish artists and crafts enthusiasts to cherish and develop our national heritage of crafts.

Friends & Friends is an exhibition project bringing the message of the manifesto to the present day. Opening in March at Design Forum Finland, this exhibition displays product ideas drawing upon the Finnish craft tradition and seeks new opportunities for collaboration between Finnish designers, manufacturers and parties realizing works and projects. Friends & Friends combines Finnish designers with the skills of the Friends of Finnish Handicraft and small Finnish firms and companies. The exhibition's new, exciting "model pieces" are all 100% Finnish work.

The ten participating designers have developed products in which textiles and tradition form an integral part in some new form. The exhibition features, among other items, "Kanto” stools, embroidered jewellery, "beret clocks", containers made of combined wicker and textiles, and many other exciting products.

Friends & Friends is an event marking the culmination of the 130th anniversary year of the Friends of Finnish Handicraft.

Designers participating in the exhibition:
Elina Aalto, Klaus Aalto, Katri Haahti, Elina Helenius, Inka Kivalo, Eeva Lithovius, Outi Martikainen, Saara Renvall, Markku Salo and Annele Valkama.