Constructors of Light 1940s and 50s Art from the STSY Collection

Constructors of Light is an exhibition that explores Finnish art of the 1940s and 50s through works from the member collections of the Association of Finnish Fine Arts Foundations (STSY). The STSY-produced exhibition spans three floors of museum and includes some eighty paintings, prints and sculptures by the most significant artists of the period. Several exhibits are on public view for the very first time.

Collectively, the works tell a powerful story of how the Finnish nation stepped out of the shadows of the war towards the light of Modernism. Cultural life in wartime Finland had stagnated. Organized events – exhibitions, performances and concerts – were somehow linked to the tragedy lived by the Finnish people. As a result, the arts neither evolved nor seized new art trends. Latching onto traditional art was part of the nation's survival strategy in a time of crisis; there was no room for the avant-garde. Nascent signs of Modernism retreated during the war and came out of hiding in more peaceful times, rejuvenated and revitalized.