![Logo [Forssa Textile Week]](client/forssanmuseo/images/textileweek/logo-large.png){kind=logo}
Open daily during the event 10-17
The event showcases a selection of textile art, installations and textile heritage. You can find exhibitions at the Spinning Mill Area, The Weaving Mill Area and Forssa city centre.
We reserve the right to make changes to the program.
Picture: Päivi Vaarula. Detail from artwork Kesäilta.
Wahreninkatu 13
Metropolia University of Applied Sciences Textile Design: Student exhibition.
“Printed fabric in a high-end fashion context is not just a pattern - it is a narrative, an experience and an opportunity for sustainable fashion.” Our cultural heritage influences the way we experience the world, and many luxury brands have returned to their roots and highlighted their history in a new way. At the same time, the ecological impact of textile production has become a key issue. Museums and archives hold hidden treasures that few people get to see. A fraction of the collections is on public display, and a large proportion of textiles are in storage awaiting a new life.
The students' task was to design a collection of three shirts (tops) based on this introduction, using recycled shirts as materials. They used traditional printing and dyeing techniques as well as more experimental methods, including various textile manipulation techniques such as embroidery, folding, tearing and cutting. The exhibition PIILOTETUT TARINAT − HIDDEN STORIES at Forssa Textile Week 2025 will showcase realized shirts from ten students. The exhibition also includes photos of the process from all students on the course. Kaisa Lackman (guest) and Tiina Karhu (Metropolia) were the teachers of the Printed Textiles and Surface Design course at Metropolia University of Applied Sciences.
Exhibition participants: Johanna Al Khatib, Mari Antikainen, Merel Benneker (NL), Min Trang Bui, Katerina Ermolaeva, Isabell Golde, Helmi Haapanen, Ella Heikkinen, Henna Kalola, Christina Kasesalu (EE), Annabelle Keuter (D), Johan Kinnunen, Siiri Koski, Elli Kähkönen, Aino Munck, Saga Mähönen, Elina Männistö, Abbie Orrell (UK), Oona Pennanen, Aino Vaattovaara, Sophie Versteegh (NL), Riikka Virtanen
Wahreninkatu 13
Pattern Centre is home to the Forssa museum's collection of printed textiles. The exhibition tells the story of Finnish textile printing, an industry that began here in Forssa in the 1860s. From the year 1951 onwards, Forssa Design Studio hosted textile designers and artists who created patterns of different colors and designs. These printed fabrics dressed our nation, decorated our homes, and spread across the border to international markets.
Picture: Detail from Pattern Centre exhibition. Forssa museum.
Hämeentie 2
Close your eyes and think about a place: what kind of landscape do your memories and imagination transport you to? The artists at Puistolinna exhibition tell tales about rivers, meadows, cities, and beings that inhabit them.
Aet Ollisaar (EE) Textile artist Aet Ollisaar explores the theme of the river in the works of her exhibition: 'All these years that I’ve lived by the river, I’ve longed for the sea. Without realizing that the river has long been a part of my life, even though I’ve never truly noticed it. The call of the sea is so strong that it echoes everywhere I go, always. Yet the golden meadows on both sides of the river are full of paths that lead through the most important moments of life, from one time to another. The bridge across the river leads to the sea, to the land of longing.'”
Hele (LV) joins the exhition with the hedline Where the Fairies Dwell. Hele explores the quiet wonder and vital importance of meadows and grasslands - landscapes where rare plants bloom, pollinators thrive, birds sing and nest, wild animals roam and raise their young - where vibrant biodiversity is woven into a complex and interconnected ecological system. Meadows and grasslands also play a vital role in regulating the climate and supporting ecosystems. They are not only guardians of biodiversity but also keepers of cultural memory. For centuries, meadow plants have been used in natural dyes, healing practices, and sacred rituals - connecting people to the land and tradition, bridging the material and immaterial worlds. The Earth is our Mother and every natural element on it - our relative. The meadows are living archives of ecological knowledge and ancestral wisdom.
Niina Mantsinen (FI) combines conventional textile methods with urban city culture influences. Her hand-tufted rugs break the traditions of textile art and at the same time challenge the viewer to interpret the graffiti in a new way. Mantsinen’s works are made in collaboration with graffiti artists.”
Gintarė Murauskienė (LT) is a textile and fiber artist from Lithuania, with interest in creating sustainable and environmental-friendly textile objects. Her traditional, slow processes contrast sharply with the pace of industrialized production. Slow creation methods, like hand-knitting, embroidery, are integral to the creation practice. She uses second-hand, thrifted or ethically sourced fibers aiming to reduce waste and minimize the environmental footprint, trying to speak about cultural heritage and strong connection to the ancestral roots.
Karoliina Arvilommi (FI) is known for her bold use of color and organic forms that give her works a distinctive expression. In her art, she often explores relationships and moods between living beings. She works with wool from Finnish sheep, sourced from local organic farms, which she washes and dyes by hand. Arvilommi has participated in numerous exhibitions both in Finland and abroad, and has taught her own techniques—based on traditional wet felting—around the world.
Maryliis Teinfeldt-Grins (EE) is an artist and writer whose practice delves into the transformations of landscapes, language, and memory. Her multidisciplinary work encompasses embroidery, photography, tapestry, drawing, and poetry composed in dialect. The artist bring to us embroidered landscapes that draw on the exploration of memory, loss, and the shifting topographies of rural Estonia. These works are deeply intertwined with the artist’s ongoing research into how landscapes act as living archives—holding not only personal memories but also layers of collective history and cultural narratives. Inspired by the idea of récits d’espace (spatial stories) by Michel de Certeau.
Picture: Aet Ollisaar artwork, The River Still Flows On.
Puutarhakatu 5
In this exhibition the works are united by the use of wool as a material, as well as by the interpretation of traditional skills through a contemporary form.
Reena Curphey (EE) is a textile artist living in rural Northeastern Estonia. She creates wall hangings using the wet felting technique, designed for contemporary interiors. Her works are inspired by the quiet beauty of rural life and the raw honesty of natural materials. She combines traditional techniques with a modern approach, using locally sourced fiber and wool from her own flock.
Piritta Mäkinen (FI) is a felt designer and carding mill entrepreneur. Her works blend traditional craftsmanship, natural materials, and contemporary design. Wool serves as a medium for illustrating stories, visualizing inner worlds, and creating impact. The felting process is a journey of exploration—an encounter that challenges with enchanting, delightful, and vivid tones, offering limitless possibilities in form, essence, and texture.
Liisi Tamm (EE) is a textile designer and researcher at the Pallas University of Applied Sciences. In her work, she combines sheep farming with wool-based design. Her goal is to revive traditional skills and practices in a modern context. Kahu Muhu’s Story, on display here, is a knitted textile installation made from the wool of sheep from the island of Muhu, drawing inspiration from the coastal environment.
Image: Liisi Tamm, artwork.
Wahreninkatu 4
How to express life through textiles? The exhibition at the Forssa Nature Museum will feature the Finnish Felt Association Filt's mini textile exhibition "Little Wonders of Nature" and the stunningly beautiful, crocheted bird sculptures and the accompanying video work made with the amazing micro-crochet technique by Lithuanian Rūta Naujalytė.
Tiny Wonders of Nature is a mini textile exhibition by the Finnish Felt Association Filtti, showcasing the diversity and expressive power of Finnish felt art. The exhibition brings together felted interpretations of a world where even the smallest detail can tell a big story.
Rūta Naujalytė is a textile artist creating soft sculptures from sewing threads using a micro-crochet. Her work explores incompleteness, bird symbolism, and social themes like feminism, ecology, and time.
Alyona Miroshnychenko
(UA) explores techniques, color, texture, and the interaction of felt with light and space. Working with felt is not just a technique, but a way of contemplating the nature of things and the inner world of the person. As an immigrant in Finland, she has faced challenges in integrating into society, but by working with Finnish wool and engaging with local artists, Olena is connecting with the new environment. The goal is to raise awareness of felting as an eco-friendly art form, highlighting its potential and promoting Finland's wool as a valuable resource.
Picture: Rūta Naujalytė artwork, My Love I Will Eat You Alive.
Kehräämönkatu
Greta Kardi (LT) is a Lithuanian textile artist and graphic designer who uses motifs from the history of textiles from her country. Embroidered land is an environmental work created together with children and students in Forssa. The motif of the work comes from small embroidered greetings or memories that women who were imprisoned or exiled during the Soviet era would embroider for their loved ones. The embroideries transformed into land art works preserve the painful memory of history.
“Embroidered Land" workshop for schools 21.8.-22.8. at 9-11
Forssa Textile Week has invited local schools to participate in an environmental art workshop by Greta Kardi in Wahren Park. The workshop combines textiles and the environment art by “embroidering” traditional handicraft patterns into the soil with sticks. The artist has created similar works in Lithuania, France and Sweden.
Picture: Greta Kardi
Forssa City Library
Wahreninkatu 4
Open 10-17
Attn! Entrance to the exhibition on Thu-Fri via Library, Sat-Sun via the Forssa Nature Museum entrance (door next to parking area, door 4 b)
This exhibition presents original textile pattern sketches created by 31 designers over four decades at the Finlayson studio in Forssa. It accompanies a book (published 2025) of the same name by curator Kristiina Huttunen, based on interviews with the designers.The handmade sketches reflect changing styles, themes, and techniques—from gouache to ink, from figurative motifs to graphic compositions. The exhibition offers a rich overview of the design studio’s history, featuring both iconic and previously unseen designs. Finlayson’s textile design studio operated in Forssa from 1951, continuing the region’s industrial fabric printing tradition that began in the 1860s. The studio collaborated closely with production and marketing teams until operations gradually moved to Tampere and eventually ceased in 2009.
The title is a quote from designer Aini Vaari (1931–2025), who recalled how, in the 1950s, young designers experimented freely—sometimes even sketching with a blade of grass.
The exhibition is open 3.7.-28.8.2025.
Picture: Original design sketch by Helena Perheentupa, 1950-luku. Forssa Museum.
Wiksberg Art Attic
Kuivakorventie 2
The third edition of the Näyteikkunanäyttely (Show Window Exhibition) by Sari Kurka and Tanja Härmä will be hosted this year at the Wiksberg Art Attic as part of the Kuhankoski Guild’s exhibition. The Forša izrāde installation features unique hand-printed textiles by visual artist Sari Kurka, originally from Forssa, and romantic outfits by Forssa-based clothing designer and artist Tanja Härmä. The garments are crafted from Kurka’s printed fabrics and recycled textiles.
More info: mantanhistoriaploki.blogspot.com, Ig: maitohammas
Kuhankoski Guild Exhibition
Open August 14–31, 2025
Daily from 11-17
The building in the Wiksberg Manor grounds was originally constructed in the 1840s. The Wiksberg Manor Garden Plots Association is restoring the building through volunteer efforts, gradually bringing it back into use. The upstairs Art Attic was opened for exhibitions in summer 2024. The space, with its old, partially charred logs, rugged brick walls, and graffiti accumulated over time, offers a uniquely atmospheric setting for art exhibitions.
Picture: Sari Kurka (textiles), Tanja Härmä (photography).
Culture Room Wanha Konttori
Kauppakatu 18
This exhibition offers glimpses into the working processes of Sari Kurka and Tanja Härmä. Kurka explores the surface and visual language of printmaking, while Härmä highlights elements of clothing and garment construction. Detached Textile Process Diagrams presents surfaces, images, visuals, and finished textile pieces.
Exhibition opening hours:
Thu–Sat, August 21–23, from 18
Sun, August 24, from 12
The artists will be present at Wanha Konttori during Forssa Textile Week Afterwork event on Friday, August 22, starting at 18.
Picture: Sari Kurka (printed fabrics), Tanja Härmä (vest and photography)
Forssa Church
I Linja 4
Open: Thu–Fri 10–16, Sat 9.30–14, Sun closed
In the church space installation, the artists approach current themes—Comfort, Hope, Joy, Will—through textiles; exploring form, materials, color, and meaning. The final part of a four-exhibition series is on display at Forssa Church during the Forssa Textile Week festival.
The exhibition is integrated into the church building, its everyday life and celebrations, appearing in the vestibule, the sacristy, or the rear of the church. The diverse works of the three artists come together in a quiet, conversational dialogue, forming a unified whole that respects the space. Visitors to the church are welcome to pause and spend time with the exhibition—or simply walk past. Church textiles play an important role in the textile history of Finland and the world. This exhibition honors that heritage.
Maija Esko
Hannele Köngäs
Tupu Mentu
Picture: Forssa Church, Forssa Museum.
The organizers of the event are the Forssa Museum & The City of Forssa.
The event is supported by The Häme Regional Fund, Pohjoismainen kulttuuripiste / pohjoismainen kulttuurineuvosto, Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture
Sponsors: Finnish Textile and Fashion,
Loimi-Hämeen Jätehuolto Oy, OP Lounaismaa
Partners of the event are:
Aalto University, Design Shop Sininen Talo, Estonian Textile Artist, Finlayson - Forssa Shop, Finnish Textile and Fashion, Forssan City Library, Forssa Art School, Forssa Natural History Museum, HAMK Häme University of Applied Sciences, Kuhankoskenkilta ry, Kulttuurihuone Wanha Konttori, Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, Pallas University of Applied Sciences, Pro Ethical Trade Finland,
Taito Organization, Rykkeri / Forssa Fabric Oy, Textile Artists Association TEXO, Turku AMK - University of Applied Sciences, Villaforss, VM Carpet, Wahren-opisto, Wetterhoff.
