Alicja Kwade: Trans-For-Men / Kate McIntosh: Worktable

Alicja Kwade’s exhibition Trans-For-Men kicks off a new form of collaboration between EMMA and the Saastamoinen Foundation. Every year, a new work will be commissioned for the Foundation’s collections from a topically relevant contemporary artist. A curated exhibition will be organized in conjunction with the commission to shed further light on the artist’s current practice. 

Alicja Kwade tailored her exhibition to interact with EMMA’s unique architecture. The five installations all somehow portray motion and metamorphosis engaging in an intriguing dialogue with the museum’s interior spaces and surrounding scenery. Kwade drew inspiration to her new works from the concrete brutalism of EMMA’s architecture and the building’s history as a printing house, particularly the vision of heavy printing machines and giant rolls of paper that once filled the gallery spaces.

The five sculptural installations in the exhibition undergo a gradual process of transformation, taking the visitor on a journey through time and space. Kwade’s works reflects on the interaction of people and nature, as well as on our relationship with the natural world as a broader philosophical question. Her art challenges our perceptions and understanding of the fundamental nature of reality. What makes things what they are—or could everything be totally different?

Alicja Kwade
Alicja Kwade (b. 1979 Katowice, Poland) lives and works in Berlin. She is an award-winning artist whose work has featured at the Venice Biennale and numerous major museums over the past decade. In addition to EMMA, Espoo her works are currently on show at Kunsthal Charlottenborg and at Louisiana Art Museum in Copenhagen, at Hayward Gallery in London and at König Gallery in Berlin. 

The exhibition is curated by Marie Nipper (Creator Projects) and EMMA’s Chief Curator Arja Miller.

For further information:
Curator: Arja Miller, EMMA
arja.miller [​at​] emmamuseum.fi, T +358 50 336 1980

Päivi Karttunen, Saastamoinen Foundation Art Committee
paivi.karttunen [​at​] saastamoinenfoundation.fi, T +358 40 529 2544

Worktable (2011) is an ongoing, live installation and one of the best-known participatory works by Kate McIntosh. It makes you think about the material world around us contemplating on emotions of creation and destruction.

Worktable takes place in different rooms where the audience participates in the chain of events through different actions. The installation progresses according to a script created by Kate McIntosh in a rhythm set by the participants. Composed of everyday objects, the changing environment invites visitors one at a time inside the installation. Participants will receive instructions, tools and safety gear—we will hand you a hammer and you get to decide how to take things apart.

The performative work has toured the world since 2011 and it has been realised in more than 30 venues to date. Worktable will be constructed in the exhibition space of EMMA in November. It will be open to the public for two weeks in collaboration with the international theatre festival Baltic Circle.

Kate McIntosh
New-Zealand-born Kate McIntosh (b. 1974) is a multidisciplinary artist residing in Brussels. She works with installations, performance and theatre. Her work focuses on the physicality of both the performer and the audience, the manipulation of materials and objects, and the relationships with and within the audience. McIntosh has a constant fascination with a sense of play with the audience, theatre imagery and twisted humour. 

For further information:
Curator: Reetta Kalajo, EMMA
reetta.kalajo [​at​] emmamuseum.fi, T +358 40 557 1422

Media inquiries: 
Asta Teräväinen, Communications Coordinator, EMMA
asta.teravainen [​at​] emmamuseum.fi, T +358 44 760 1930 

EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art is based in the Exhibition Centre WeeGee in Tapiola district, Espoo. Its collections and exhibitions showcase Finnish and international modernism, contemporary art, and design. EMMA’s exhibition spaces—the largest in Finland—are housed in a striking architectural landmark building designed by Professor Aarno Ruusuvuori. The clean-lined modern architecture enhances the experiential dimension of the displays, which include changing exhibitions and the permanent collections of EMMA, the Saastamoinen Foundation and the Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Foundation. EMMA is the Museum of the Year 2018 in Finland. 

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