Art Centre Salmela is one of Finland’s biggest summertime cultural events and a member festival of Finland Festivals. One of the salient goals of Salmela’s activity is to preserve, enliven and take into use the cultural historically significant environment.

 

Salmela is situated in the historical parish village of Mäntyharju by the Lake Pyhävesi. Salmela has total of approximately 1000 m² of exhibition space. An old 1850s built parish cottage works as the oldest exhibition room. In 2000 Salmela’s exterior painting was completed which restored the building to the 1920s atmosphere.

Exhibition continues at the cultural historically valuable Domander exhibition grounds which is located some 150 metres from the main building. Milieu includes the old pharmacy, post office, servant’s quarters and outbuildings. More outbuildings will be taken into use in the summer 2007. Domander exhibition grounds introduces also the new scenic piers from which you can admire the cultural landscape and art from the “boat perspective”.

Located 500 metres away from Salmela, in the Iso-Pappila museum area, stands the 1850s built Granite Magazine with 400 m² of exhibition space. It now holds the Nina Terno museum.

Exhibition buildings have been taken into use in accordance with Unesco’s recommendations and the guidelines by the National Board of Antiquities, and they have undergone extensive renovation work approved by the Board.

Salmela’s exhibition spaces are joined together by a lovely landscape park with gazebos. The landscape park was opened in 2002 and it includes the sculpture park, gazebos and café-restaurant Kesäheinä which functions both as an exhibition space and promoter of culinary art.

A pond has been built in the landscape park and in the vicinity of the pond stand the gazebos designed by architects C.L.Engel, Wivi Lönn and Aino Marsio. Two additional gazebos, tied to the railway history of Eastern Finland, are also sited at the park. In 2004 Salmela organised a national gazebo design competition which aimed at finding new and esthetically high level viewpoints on gazebo building using Finnish wood as the primary building material. The shared first prize went to architect Tom Cederqvist (Kadonnut suudelma, Lost Kiss), architects Johanna Vuorinen and Esa Kangas (Klapi) and architect Sami Vikström (Utu, Mist). The jury of the competition was comprised of professor Juhani Pallasmaa (chmn.), landscape architect Gretel Hemgård, architect Roy Mänttäri and interior designer Yrjö Wiherheimo. Gazebos Utu and Huviksesi (For Your Fun by Robert Eriksson), built according to the designs, can be found in the landscape park.

The milieu includes also Finland’s second largest wooden church, the 1850s built Mäntyharju church, where Art Centre Salmela holds concerts. Church is located just accross from Salmela’s main building.

•    Map over exhibition area