KWUM
In the Korean language the word KWUM means dream – in Fiskars it means Karin Widnäs’ museum. The idea of a ceramics museum had a long gestation period, but once the project got under way the over 300 square meter building has been completed in just a few years. The architecture combines timber and ceramics elements and indeed can be seen as a blueprint of how to do so. The architect is Tuomo Siitonen who designed Studio Widnäs, the artist’s combined home, workshop and gallery.
Sources for inspiration for Karin Widnäs have been: her teacher, the pioneer of Finnish ceramic art professor Kyllikki Salmenhaara; her exposure to the ceramic art traditions of Korea whilst travelling in that country; and the stimulating company of the handcrafts, arts and design collective in Fiskars. Another strong motivating factor has been the need to defend the position of ceramic art in Finland, to pass on the knowledge of the discipline’s materials and techniques gathered over generations but increasingly neglected in current art education.
Besides the permanent collection, which largely comprise Karin Widnäs’ own collections, the museum will feature changing exhibitions of both domestic and foreign ceramic pieces.