Riihimäki blows life into the tradition of the glass city

4.12.2024 Releases Participate and influence Glass city Vigor Events

In the vaulted hall, in front, on the right and on the left, there are large glass vitrines with glass art on display. — Finnish Glass Museum. Photo: Ella Tommila

The city of Riihimäki is building its international and national reputation as a glass city.

In its international profiling, Riihimäki uses the appreciation of Finnish glass design and the international connections of the Finnish Glass Museum. Based on these strengths, the city is organizing a new glass themed event.

"We are planning an international glass biennale, the Finnish Glass Biennale, which is organized every other year. The biennale will be held in Riihimäki for the first time from 5th to 8th June 2025, says the city's vitality director Anna-Riitta Kujala.

The producer of the biennale is Luovi Productions, the founder and producer of Helsinki Design Week and Fiskars Village Art & Design Biennale.

The program of the Finnish Glass Biennale includes a professional seminar, expert visits, exhibitions and satellite events produced together with the local community in Riihimäki and in Iittala and Nuutajärvi, known for their art glass.

"Events are effective initiators of creative strategy work, as they bring together different stakeholders around a common theme. The immediacy of the Finnish Glass Biennale creates a platform for a culture of experimentation, which is easy for regional actors to join. Over time, these best practices can grow into a well-established cultural festival that promotes the goals of the city strategy. It is inspiring to be involved in making Riihimäki the capital of glass and developing its cooperation with Iittala and Nuutajärvi. A strong cooperation network in the glass industry is emerging in the region", says Kari Korkman, founder and director of Luovi Productions.

Streets will be renamed, signs will be added to the cityscape

In addition to international profiling, the city of Riihimäki wants to bring the glass city theme to the attention of city dwellers and tourists.

"We want glass and the history of glass to be a part of Riihimäki's cityscape. For example, the guidance from the train station to the Finnish Glass Museum is to be improved. The city is also planning to rename a few streets, respecting the glass tradition," says Kristian Keinänen, the city's development manager.

The city of Riihimäki and the Finnish Glass Museum will be in Helsinki in January at Matka Travel Fair to present the biennale.

The biennale and the glass city have received their own visual expressions, which are used to present the themes.

The tradition of glass lives on in Riihimäki

Riihimäki takes advantage of its strong roots as a glass city in profiling. Riihimäki Lasi Oy (1910–1990) was at one time the largest glass factory in the Nordic countries. In addition, several glass factories have operated in the region over the decades.

Nowadays, the Finnish glass museum operates in the former factory building of Riihimäen Lasi Oy, in the premises designed by Tapio Wirkkala. The Finnish Glass Museum is one of the most prestigious glass museums in the world, in addition to the Corning Museum of Glass in New York and the Victoria and Albert Museum in London.

Riihimäki has a strong foundation on which to build both international and national recognition as a glass city.

The Finnish Glass Museum is Riihimäki's most famous place to visit

The Finnish Glass Museum, along the main road from Helsinki to Tampere, is Riihimäki's most famous tourist attraction. About 50 visitors visit the museum annually. In addition to exhibitions, the museum organizes popular events throughout the year. The most popular of these are Glass Days, which gather around 000–4 glass enthusiasts and collectors from all over Finland in January and June.

The Finnish Glass Museum is a national responsible glass museum. As a nationally responsible museum, the glass museum develops cultural heritage work, cooperation between Finnish museums and promotes international connections in its specialty.

The Finnish Glass Museum played a central role in getting the know-how related to hand-made glass onto the UNESCO list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity.

On November 20, 2024, the Ministry of Education and Culture awarded The Finnish Glass Museum with the Suomi-prize honorary certificate for its meritorious work in nurturing the craft tradition related to glass.

Finnish Glass Biennale website
The Finnish Glass Biennale's Open Call is now open. Go here to the application form.
The program of the Finnish Glass Biennale will be published on March 19.

Luovi Productions Oy

The Finnish Glass Museum

Previous news (December 6.12.2023): Knowledge related to hand-made glass on UNESCO's intangible cultural heritage list
Previous news (November 20.11.2024): The Finnish Glass Museum was awarded for its meritorious work in nurturing the craft tradition related to glass