SAUMA [DESIGN AS CULTURAL INTERFACE]

SAUMA [Design as Cultural Interface] presents innovative contemporary design from Finland. The works in the exhibition explore new approaches to usability, user experience and the design process itself. The exhibition was originally curated for the American audiences and was first presented in Washington, DC as part of the Finnish Year of Design in 2005. After touring in the United States for three years, SAUMA was shipped to Europe. It will now be shown in Norway at the Stavanger Kunstforening from June 10 to September 6, 2009.

SAUMA introduces experimental installations and design concepts including new portable devices, an experimental kitchen, an urban sauna and a game prototype. Other exhibition items study the ideas of portability, sensory experiences and the ways in which we navigate our urban environment. The contents of the exhibition are updated for each presentation.

After the opening exhibition of the tour at the Embassy of Finland gallery in Washington, DC SAUMA was on show in New York at the World Financial Center Courtyard Gallery in the summer of 2006. The US portion of the tour ended in Los Angeles, where the exhibition was presented at the A + D Architecture and Design Museum in the summer of 2007. After that the exhibition traveled to Europe, where it was first presented at the Design Museum in Helsinki, Finland in the spring of 2008 and then at the Danish Design Centre, Copenhagen in fall-winter 2008-2009 and finally at the Stavanger Kunstforening in summer 2009.

The exhibition tour has now ended but please do check www.ficultureny.org to find out about other projects by the Finnish Cultural Institute in New York.