14.9.2023 – 28.1.2024
Northern Latitude 60.20890
The Arabia Art Department Society’s 20th anniversary exhibition, Northern Latitude 60.20890, is featuring Finnish contemporary ceramics curated by the New York gallery owners Juliet Burrows and Kim Hostler.
This year marks the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Arabia Art Department Society on 4 November 2003. The Society was founded to preserve and develop the legacy of the Arabia Art Department, which was established in the 1930s.
The society’s 20-year story is celebrated in various ways, and the society’s artists, including Professor Heikki Orvola, Kati Tuominen-Niittylä, Pekka Paikkari, Kristina Riska, Heini Riitahuhta, Kim Simonsson, Jasmin Anoschkin, Caroline Slotte, Sakari Kannosto, and Marianne Huotari, are participating in the anniversary year.
The Arabia Art Department Society’s 20th-anniversary exhibition, Northern Latitude 60.20890, opens on 14 September 2023. The coordinates of the exhibition lead to the Iittala & Arabia Design Centre in Helsinki’s Arabia district, where the Arabia Art Department is located. The anniversary exhibition presents the society’s artists’ latest works.
The exhibition’s curators are Juliet Burrows and Kim Hostler, specialists in Nordic design and contemporary ceramics, who lead two galleries in New York and one in Los Angeles. Kristina Riska, a member of the Arabia Art Department Society, was the first living artist they represented. They have since started collaborations with other artists from the society.
“Arabia became instrumental in helping shape our contemporary programme. It was mindboggling to have such a wealth of artistic talent and inspired craft concentrated in one building.” explains Juliet Burrows.
The exhibition also displays the JUHLAT collection, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of the Arabia Art Department Society and the 150th anniversary of Arabia. The jar designed by Heini Riitahuhta serves as a stand for the artworks of the society’s artists. The limited edition of 150 pieces was crafted at the premises of the Arabia Art Department in collaboration with ceramic artist Susanne Koskimäki. The price of items from the “JUHLAT” collection is €625 per piece, available for purchase at the following shops: Arabia Store Esplanadi, Iittala & Arabia Design Centre Store, Iittala Outlet Turku.
Arabia Art Department Society has also produced an anniversary publication, Arabia Art Department Society 20 Years. The publication articulates, documents and shares the industrial and artistic expertise and tacit knowledge that the Arabia Art Department has cultivated over the decades. The book was edited and the texts were written by Elise Simonsson, with graphic design by Aleksandra Niiranen, translations by Rebecca Watson, and images primarily by Chikako Harada. The publication is available during the Arabia Art Department Society’s exhibition at the Iittala & Arabia Design Centre.
Earlier in the spring a podcast called Portraits was published. It was produced and hosted by writer and interior journalist Maaretta Tukiainen. Each artist’s podcast episode has its own chapter in English translation, allowing the material to reach an international audience.