Events

Re-imagining the Past exhibition Vol. 2 online

Aalto University Archives is celebrating Aalto 10 with exhibition ‘Re-imagining the past 2’. Once again, we collaborated with the Aalto community by inviting Aalto alumni, professors, students and other associates to highlight their carefully selected favourites from the collections. The stories and images from the exhibition are now available for online exploration.
Re-imagining the Past Vol. 2. Photos: Kitty Norros
Re-imagining the Past Vol. 2 exhibition. Photo: Kitty Norros

Re-imagining the past 2 – Stories from the Aalto University Archives

The exhibition brings forward a variety of themes and perspectives. Themes such as the fragility of digital media and the distinctions between handmade and digital form continue to fascinate even the younger generations. In a world full of digital tools and media, carefully crafted items or hand drawn designs have become art works themselves possessing new and sometimes even surprising meanings compared to their original purpose.

The exhibition also showcases the radical creativity of former members of our community such as Merja Salo’s first ever multimedia PhD from the 1990´s, Kim Simonsson’s work “Watching You Watching Me” or Kyllikki Salmenhaara’s ceramic test tiles from the 1960’s and 1970’s. These works depict the value of carefully designed objects over disposable culture and are good examples of sustainability in the long run.

Aalto University Archives continues to preserve the past and the present, aiming to show the world our creative people and their innovative work both now and for the future generations to come. Aalto University Archives still has thousands of untold histories within its collections. Perhaps these stories might inspire new enthusiastic people to come and find them.

The Aalto University Archives is an archive open to all researchers. The key task of the Archives Services is the preservation of Aalto University's documented heritage and the promotion of research based on it. The Aalto University Archives include the archive and museum collections from Aalto University, the Helsinki School of Economics (HSE), the University of Art and Design Helsinki (TaiK) and the Helsinki University of Technology (TKK) and their predecessors, as well as numerous private archives closely linked to Aalto University and its remits.

Exhibition Team:
Curators: Susanna Kokkinen, Outi Turpeinen
Aalto University Archives Team: Sani Kivelä, Marika Sarvilahti, Hanna Talasmäki, Tove Ørsted
Graphic Designer: Joosung Kang
Copy Editor: Edel O’Reilly
Communication: Paula Haikarainen, Anitta Pirnes

Stories from Aalto University Archives

Martti Tiuri professor of radio engineering
Aalto University Archives
Robotics and Work Partner Story
Aalto University Archives
Kim Simonsson sculpture
Aalto University Archives
Merja Salo's dissertation
Aalto University Archives
Kyllikki Salmenhaara's ceramic test tiles
Aalto University Archives
Kaj Franck's general composition course
Aalto University Archives
Who will miss you when you're gone? poster re-designs
Aalto University Archives
Dinner Party

Dinner party

By Vera Anttila

Aalto University Archives
Object and environment exhibition 1968-1971
Aalto University Archives
Rare books from the archive special collection

Interpretation matters

By Anni Rupponen

Aalto University Archives
Ilmari Tapiovaara's Villa Cuccuu interior design drawings
Aalto University Archives
Hand-drawn renderings of ships
Aalto University Archives

100 years of History in a 10-year-old University

Aalto University archives have digitized over 200,000 images to make the legacy of the University available to all. By Tove Ørsted

Read more
Otaniemen spåra
Re-imagining the past Vol. 2 poster
Re-imagining the Past Vol. 2 exhibition poster by Joosung Kang
Näyttelyn avajaiset
The opening of Re-imagining the Past Vol. 2 exhibition 11.3.2020 at Dipoli Gallery. Photo: Kitty Norros
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