Helsinki Design Week deserves more than pocket-change from the city
Helsinki Design Week, now eclipsing rivals in Stockholm and Copenhagen, is powered not by city hall but by the Korkman family. Their multigenerational stewardship fuels creativity, community and continuity, despite minimal state support.
Nordic design events are engaged in a battle for supremacy. Where the Stockholm Furniture Fair is struggling to attract attendees to the Swedish capital every February, the sunny offerings of Copenhagen’s 3 Days of Design and Helsinki Design Week are going from strength to strength. More than 150,000 people are expected to attend the latter, which is currently in full swing and runs until 14 September. Talks, exhibitions and product launches are taking place in venues across Helsinki, with an emphasis on materiality, functionality and design’s role in society. The event’s headline exhibition, Designing Happiness, examines how design fosters wellbeing – an apt theme for a nation that has been declared the world’s happiest for the past eight years.
The programme is broad but there’s a sense of intimacy. Leading studios have opened their doors, offering glimpses of the lives of Helsinki’s designers. Finnish textile brand Johanna Gullichsen has transformed its city-centre showroom into a sound installation, while Artek is launching a collaboration with Marimekko. The Design Diplomacy showcase, a Helsinki Design Week favourite, will again invite the public into ambassadors’ residences. Habitare, the region’s largest interiors fair, begins today and provides a rare opportunity to buy furniture directly from the trade-hall floor.
But what truly sets Helsinki Design Week apart is that it’s family run. Founded 20 years ago by Kari Korkman, who still serves as its CEO, the festival is now a multigenerational effort: his daughters, Anni and Iris, are its programme director and its community manager respectively. It’s often assumed that the city organises the event but the Korkmans are responsible for shaping its vision and ensuring continuity. The family is more willing to take risks than a public body and design brands no doubt prefer dealing with a nimble company over a bureaucratic city committee. The long-term stewardship also ensures a consistency that rotating civil servants would struggle to provide. The benefits of such a model are clear and, as Designing Happiness curator Anniina Koivu says, “There’s always someone on the line and there’s a genuine sense of community.”
The Korkmans downplay their private role – their company, Luovi Productions, is rarely mentioned. But the remarkable reality is that one of Finland’s most visible showcases runs largely without state backing. The sums allocated by the City of Helsinki and the Finnish government are on a par with amounts given to a small regional sports meet – hardly befitting an international cultural flagship seeking to rival the likes of Copenhagen and stay ahead of Stockholm. The city, however, has steadily cut its contribution. If Helsinki wants to be taken seriously as a design capital, it cannot outsource its cultural reputation to a single family. A stronger commitment is needed – not just words but meaningful investment.
Petri Burtsoff is Monocle’s Helsinki correspondent.
