Zoom In. Contemporary Finnish Art Jewelry Exhibition

Artist list

Tarja Ahola, Melitina Balabin, Nikolai Balabin, Aino Favén, Juhani Heikkilä, Tuija Hietanen, Elina Honkanen, Matti Mattsson, Wiebke Pandikow, Harri Syrjänen, Janna Syvänoja, Terhi Tolvanen, Tarja Tuupanen

13 talented Finnish jewellery artists with altogether 65 unique pieces of contemporary art jewellery are presented in this hybrid project (the other parts of the project are Mid-Century Modern jewellery and contemporary design jewellery) divided between Helsinki and Shanghai. Each of the artist has their own personal take on contemporary art jewellery.

In this satellite exhibition at Gallery GAo ShAn there are 26 pieces of Finnish contemporary art jewellery on display. The remaining 39 pieces will be travelling to Shanghai where they will be exhibited at Design Shanghai, Objects & Accessories hall, in June 2021. Gallerist and curator Ding Yi from Gallery GAo ShAn will be taking Finnish contemporary jewellery and design objects to the fair and presenting them at this leading international design event of Asia.

The field of contemporary jewellery is globally a vivid one – many Finnish artists are better known abroad than in Finland. The aim of this exhibition is to gain better exposure to Finnish artists in Finland. The Gallery GAo ShAn exhibition shows a wide variety of works of the 13 chosen artists, letting the visitors zoom in on the craftsmanship of contemporary Finnish art jewellery.

The history of Finnish jewellery making can be traced back to more than 100 years ago. It was pretty much kick-started with the dawn of Independence from Russia when many skillful Faberge jewellery craftsmen came to work for Tillander in Helsinki. Traditionally speaking, a piece of jewellery can be a symbol for a significant life moment where the use of precious metals in gold or diamond rings create an emotion in their wearer.

Contemporary jewellery’s is a new approach. Here artists’ emotions are encapsulated with the skillful craftsmanship of a variety of materials in a unique item that impacts the people who own or wear the contemporary piece in question. A contemporary art jewel can be considered more of a message from the artist to the viewer, while the emotion captured by the artist evokes an emotion of their own in the wearer of the piece.

From humour into doorways of serious discussion
Jewellery artists can work across different disciplines and scales like Janna Syvänoja does. Her work can be as well a big wall-size installation from birch bark or – like in this exhibition – a brooch made out of paper, set boldly on the body.

Harri Syrjänen is Finnish master goldsmith, jewelry and leather artist whose works are highly narrative craft pieces. The guiding forms of nature are important to his design work, often a shape or material sets his creative process in motion. The important thing for Harri is to establish harmony between the idea, the form, materials and function. He does not create his jewelry primarily as valuable luxury objects but unique art or design pieces made in small editions.

At Design Shanghai 2021 fair visitors can for example observe a delicate and beautifully light wooden necklace from which flowers grow from, made by Wiebke Pandikow. The wood comes from the sea, the white flowers are made from plastic bags which too often end up in our seas too. The beautiful item can be a doorway into a serious conversation about nature and the role of human interventions with nature.

Matti Mattsson presents a totally other kind of visuality. His career began with his own studio in 1972 and he has maintained his playful style ever since. Matti was using recycled materials before that term game into general discussion. Whether it has been a piece of an old aeroplane or a shoe heel from the street, he has been able to turn it into a piece of jewellery or an art object. The exhibition shows his clock series made from pan lids and feathers. He was elected by the Finnish Jewellery Art Association to be the Jewellery artist of the year 2020.


Opening hours
Wednesday to Sunday 12pm to 6pm. The exhibition runs from Saturday 13 February to Sunday 28 March 2021.

Free of charge.
Maximum of three visitors at any given time. A mask is available upon request as well as hand gel.