Curator Henna Paunu is responsible for thousands of works of art

The collections of EMMA(external link, opens in a new window) are the responsibility of curator Henna Paunu. Her duties include taking care of acquisitions for the museum, how they are presented in the museum and what is lent to other museums or touring exhibitions. For example, the first touring exhibition of Tapio Wirkkala’s works will soon leave from EMMA to Japan.

Paunu has been working at EMMA for ten years. According to her, the path there was quite traditional.

‘I have been interested in art since I was little, so I had hobbies in visual arts, went to a upper secondary school specialised in arts and studied art history at the university. This is actually the most common route for experts working in art museums, even though these days, there are more options,’ she chuckles.

Paunu is originally from Rauma. Before EMMA, she already had the chance to work at the Helsinki Artists’ Association, Kunsthalle Helsinki, various galleries and Rauma Art Museum.

The collection team, for which Paunu is the supervisor, is also responsible for tasks related to the acquisition of new works and custom art.

‘Acquisitions and purchases are often strongly linked to exhibitions, meaning that we plan future exhibitions and acquire works for them accordingly. In addition, they can be acquired retrospectively to document a specific exhibition or it is even possible to order new works specifically for the exhibition, as we did for the current Experiments in Concretism exhibition,’ Paunu explains.

‘Because EMMA is a museum of modern art, the museum’s collection procurements focus not only on contemporary art but also on the different trends of modernism. For example, abstract art plays a big role here,’ she says.

Next spring, EMMA will present the Verholla exhibition focusing on printed fabrics as well as Karin Hellman’s exhibition. Of these, Paunu highlights Hellman in particular.

‘She is one of Finland's most important artists working with the collage method. The upcoming exhibition is mainly based on our own collection of Hellman and it is the first ever extensive museum exhibition on her works,’ she says.

‘Verholla, on the other hand, brings an artistic perspective to a more everyday topic, which is printed fabrics and their production,’ Paunu adds.

And what kind of cultural consumer is Henna Paunu, and what cultural recommendations does she have for us?

‘My consumption of culture is a little exclusive as it is focused on the art side of things, but I do like music and theatre, too,’ she says.

‘I could engage even more. I feel a little guilty about it,’ she chuckles.

No reason to do so, as her list contains a very versatile range of tips:

‘I think this is a very interesting theme: how topical issues can be discussed through art.”

‘The Kaseva concert, on the other hand, is pure nostalgia. It's very touching. I've been following their comeback, if you can call it that.’

‘I love these! I know it's really hard for me to get there at those times. But if I could just manage it, a little moment of dancing in the afternoon would be the best thing in the middle of the day.’

‘I’m also interested in modern folk music.’