Exhibition
29 September – 17 November 2024
This exhibition provides a view into a cross-cultural dialogue between Finnish designer Esa Vesmanen and the Japanese brand minä perhonen, in which modernist principles will be explored with an added layer of fantasy and play. Artist and designer Akira Minagawa is the founder of minä perhonen, a company specialising in textiles, fashion and homeware. His appreciation of Scandinavian design has informed the brand’s identity, fused with a Japanese aesthetic sensitivity towards nature. In collaboration with Vesmanen their work pushes formal and functional possibilities of wood and textiles.
As a response to the interior environment of Maison Louis Carré, their designs can be seen in continuation with the key modernist ideas established by Aalto. Both designers appreciate the simple minimalistic use of materials in Aalto’s approach, which also corresponds to the ecological concerns today. The exhibition brings together a selection of designs, including rugs created specifically for Maison Louis Carré by Akira Minagawa as well as textiles and women’s fashion. Works by Esa Vesmanen include the lighting range in paper-thin plywood, furniture in plywood and an experimental project with the iconic Aalto 60 stool.
Curator: Marianna Wahlsten, journalist and design historian
Image: minä perhonen, textile Carnival. Photo Yayoi Arimoto
Cover: Esa Vesmanen & minä perhonen, Finom “metsä”, 2021. Photo Hua Wang