Vestnorden Arts & Crafts 2004

Finland

The Finnish Society of Crafts and Design was founded in 1875, when Finland was still under Russian control. The founders of the society were a group of influential people in the cultural arena and captains of industry. Examples were sought among Europe's foremost schools of industrial arts and crafts. At first the society maintained a school which taught manual skills and assembled a collection of international industrial arts and crafts. The society is the forerunner of arts and crafts education in Finland and are responsible for the good name of Finnish design and a good example of the connection beetween handicrafts and design.

The Finnish participants are crafts women and designers that run a company together where they make shirts, dresses and pillows as well as decorative items of paper mache. In 2002 Anneli Keinonen got two distinguised prizes for her handprinted t-shirts but she has made high quality product out of this humble material.

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