Artistic crafts collection

The artistic works collection at the Crafts Museum of Finland is made up of objects, archives of sketches, as well as materials related to the process of creating these artworks. There are many facets to the concept of artistic crafts. The artwork collection at the Craft Museum of Finland recognizes its scope intersects with and partially overlaps that of other museums dedicated to art and design, such as the Design Museum in Helsinki. Therefore, even when dealing with artworks, the focus of this museum is on recording and highlighting the process of crafting as much as the final product. When preserving artistic crafts, the emphasis is on the working processes of the artisans and their sources of inspiration. The artwork collection has accumulated from a variety of sources. At the initiative of the artists themselves, the museum has assembled broad retrospectives covering a long term of their careers that reflect their entire output. Among artists with such collections are the designer and artist Markku Piri, the needlework artist Sirkka Könönen, and Gittan Kokko, known for the poppana textile collection she designed. Individual acquisitions made in various contexts, such as during exhibitions, and contemporary documentation, also contribute to the artistic works collection. The collections today include works from such artists as the visual artist Ulla Pohjola, the eco-artist Raija Puukko, the glass designer Alma Jantunen, the textile artist Maisa Kaarna, the paper artist Sirpa Kivilompolo, the textile artist Sirkka Könönen, the outsider artist (ITE artist) Helinä Savonen, as well as Sirkka Muurela.