Re-imagining the Past exhibition Vol. 2 online

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