Welcome to exhibition opening on Tuesday June 24, 5-7 p.m.
In the summer 2025 exhibition at Laterna Magica, the protagonists of Mari Savio's textile works, paintings and sketches are "Eukkos", a Finnish word, or rather a concept that could be translated as Old Women. The Book Gallery space is transformed into a kingdom of Eukkos, a pictorial and blazingly colorful demonstration. Although the works are full of humor, their secret purpose is to call women to revolt against the madness of the world, to gather an army of old women to save a world that has been ruined and destroyed by men. The Eukko works contain references to folk tales, the many-breasted ancestors of emo statues, maternal figures, comic book superheroes and national flags.
The exhibition features large flag-like textile works made of colorful patterns and screen-printed texts, which depict various forms of the Eukko. In the paintings and sketches, the Eukkos hide in gardens, in misty and dreamlike landscapes, and stare questioningly at the viewer. The Eukko figures are sometimes cruelly grinning or furious, and sometimes translucent and sensitive.
Artist Mari Savio sums up her thoughts about the exhibition: “I hope that the Eukko exhibition, in addition to being hilarious, will also spark critical thinking and reflection on how women are viewed. The Eukko characters are not cute and sexy or submissive and kind, but rather multifaceted, wild, sensual and wild like their role models. I want to use the works to ask what the role of a woman is and who dictates it. I question what kind of molds women are still being forced into or what roles women themselves agree to. The world is in chaos, and that is why some of the Eukkos in the exhibition have red eyes and a terrible grin. The characters in the Eukko works give strength and energy. I believe that major trends are changing in the world now and women must rise up in a completely new role, to power and to the barricades. The message of the Eukkos is anarchistically matriarchal.”
Mari Savio
Mari Savio is a designer and an artist who plays with colors, shapes and words. The graduate of the University of Art and Design founded the clothing brand Panik in the 90s and first designed clothing collections for a couple of decades. Later, her interest turned to the development of creative learning and DIY culture in the field of design and art. Mari has published several books that inspire handcraft and an experimental approach to design, crafts and art. The book Surrur - Make Your Own Marimekko became an international phenomenon and was presented in Milan, New York and Japan, among others. Mari Savio has taught at Aalto University and founded the art club Vallila Art Club and the Finnish Design Education Society, which promotes creative learning. Recurring themes in her books and works include the joy of making, the forms of femininity and the traces of living.
