THE ”FLAME” RYA
The Friends of Finnish Handicraft and the Iris factory of Porvoo created the interior design of a room in the Finnish pavilion at the Paris World Fair of 1900. The artist Axel Gallén designed the Liekki (Flame) rya for the exhibition. This design can be regarded as Finland’s first modern rya. Folk craftsmanship, rya-weaving techniques, were adopted as the means of artistic creation.
Photo: Suomen käsityön museo / Hannu Aaltonen
CRAFT SCHOOLS
The fear that industrial products would completely replace handicrafts led to the founding of more crafts schools, which numbered 105 by the year 1905. Men were taught carpentry and joinery, lathe-work, metalwork, painting and drawing, while women received instruction in weaving, the sewing of clothes, the sewing of bed linen, and drawing design. There were also specialist schools, such as the Kajaani Ski and Steatite School, the Kurikka Cart and Carriage School and a willow-work school in Oulu.
Photo: Suomen käsityön museo
KUOPIO HANDICRAFTS EXHIBITION 1906
On show at the Kuopio Handicrafts Exhibition of 1906 were approximately 25 000 objects submitted by 3,000 exhibitors. This immense exhibition was staged to show what could be made by hand in Finland. Also on show were designs and materials.
Photo: Suomen käsityön museo
THE WORKS OF HANDICRAFTS COMMITTEE
A state committee working from 1906 to 1908 discussed the role of handicraft and proposed a number of measures to promote it. Established at the State Board of Industry was a handicrafts office headed by Lauri Mäkinen (Kuoppamäki from 1920). His tasks included the reorganization of crafts instruction and education, the development of handicrafts into an economically viable sector, and the establishment of regional handicrafts associations. Counselling, training and courses in these areas now began to be arranged by the handicrafts associations instead of the former farmers’ societies.
Photo: Suomen käsityön museo
THE MAGAZINE HANDICRAFTS
Lauri Mäkinen was also editor of the magazine Käsiteollisuus (Handicrafts), which was published from 1907 until 1931. This magazine was an important channel of information between the state handicrafts authorities and craftspersons and teachers in various parts of the country.
Photo: Suomen käsityön museo / Sami Kulju
THE PIRTTI COMPANY
The Pirtti company, specializing in handicrafts, was founded in Helsinki in 1910. Pirtti sold crafts products in Finland and also arranged their export. The company hired designers to improve the technical and aesthetic standards of furniture and textiles. It also held courses in various parts of the country. Around the same time several other handicrafts retail outlets were established. In the past, these products had been sold mostly at fairs and markets and by itinerant peddlers.
Photo: Suomen käsityön museo
THE DECLINE OF PROFESSIONAL HANDICRAFTS
Professional handicrafts declined after the First World War and the Finnish Civil War of 1918, as purchasing power deteriorated, trade with Russia ended and a shortage of materials emerged. The weaving of garment fabrics, ribbons and bands in particular suffered, as well as the making of wooden vessels and carriages. The diminishing of the crafts sector was also influenced by higher and more regular wages offered by industry, competition with foreign imports and contemporary fashions.
Photo: Suomen käsityön museo