Crafts businesses and organizations collection

The crafts businesses and organizations collection is a history of both Finland’s major artisan companies and organizations as well as more minor actors. The records from machine-assisted handicrafts industry focus on product design, while those from larger companies emphasize small-scale series production. Records of the history and activities of associations join those documenting the experiences of small businesses in the creative field as well as those of the evolution of education in crafts. Among the businesses documented in the collection are Helmi Vuorelma Oy, the Finnish Crafts Organization Taito and its local associations, the Friends of Finnish Handicraft, as well as small businesses such as Neovius Oy, Tellervo Oy, or Kotiteollisuus Kotivilla Oy, Taidekudonta Oy, and, closer to the present, the entrepreneurship of artisan masters and their networks and cooperatives. Some examples of the latter include Okra Oy, the Pro Artisaani association, the Elämän värit cooperative and the X8 cooperative. The museum collaborates with university students as part of their introductory course in museology. By way of practice in documentation from modern sources, they work every year to augment the collections pertaining to crafts businesses and organizations.