Arabia Art Department｜1932–early 1970s｜FINLAND
The Arabia Art Department was organized in 1932 by Kurt Ekholm, and its structure as a department was firmly established the following year, when Ekholm became its director.
The Art Department functioned as an independent space within the factory, providing artists with an environment for free creative work while allowing them to maintain a certain distance from industrial production. The results of this activity were fed back into industrial products through experimentation with materials, glazes, and forming techniques, creating an interaction between art and industry. It also served to embody and communicate Arabia’s cultural identity.
This philosophy was rooted in the values of craft and art emphasized by Arttu Brummer, who played a leading role at the Central School of Arts and Crafts, and was realized by artists trained there under Elsa Elenius. Ekholm’s institutionalization of the Art Department can be understood as a reorganization of this educational foundation within an industrial context.
Members of the Art Department included Toini Muona, Aune Siimes, Michael Schilkin, Birger Kaipiainen, Rut Bryk, Kyllikki Salmenhaara, and Oiva Toikka. Friedl Kjellberg, who had been working at Arabia since 1924, was one of the artists active even before the department was formally organized, and remained an important member after its establishment. In 1948, she became director of the Art Department.
The artists of the Art Department formed two major lineages: one represented by Toini Muona and Kyllikki Salmenhaara, based on wheel-thrown ceramics and glaze expression; and the other represented by Birger Kaipiainen and Rut Bryk, characterized by decorative and narrative expression using reliefs and ceramic plaques. Though contrasting in nature, both played an essential role in broadening the range and depth of expression within the Art Department.
The Art Department’s activities were also highly acclaimed in international exhibitions, receiving awards continuously from the 1930s onward, including at the Paris Exposition. At the Milan Triennale from the 1950s to 1960 in particular, Rut Bryk (1951), Kyllikki Salmenhaara (1957), and Birger Kaipiainen (1960) won the Grand Prix, while Honorable Mentions were awarded to Birger Kaipiainen, Michael Schilkin (1951), Rut Bryk, Toini Muona, and Kyllikki Salmenhaara (1954), and Aune Siimes received a Gold Medal in 1954. Kyllikki Salmenhaara in particular became a key figure in establishing the Art Department’s international standing, winning awards in four consecutive Triennales between 1951 and 1960, including the Grand Prix.
In the early 1970s, following an organizational restructuring, the Art Department’s name and function were transferred to the Atelier department, marking the end of its role as an independent department.
Its philosophy continues today and is carried on in the activities of the Art Department Society.
