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During 2017, the 100th anniversary of
Finland's independence, Marimekko will organise
several cooperative projects around design and art. The year will start with a
spectacular collaboration with the Lux Helsinki light festival illuminating the
city centre from
5 to 9 January. Marimekko and print designer Maija Louekari will take part in
the creation of an artwork combining animation, lights and print design. The
artwork, to be displayed on the wall of the Bank of Finland on Kirkkokatu
street, is based on a new Marimekko pattern designed in celebration of
Finland's centenary.
Marimekko has
for decades travelled in the borderland between art and design, bringing colours
and patterns as well as functional products to people's everyday lives. To
celebrate the 100-year-old Finland, the company will launch a pattern entitled Veljekset
(brothers) created by Maija Louekari, one of Marimekko's
younger-generation print designers. The design was inspired by Finnish folk
tales and it depicts animals that live in the forests of Finland. At Lux
Helsinki, the Veljekset
pattern will come to life in Maija Louekari's
artwork, through which Marimekko wants to offer the residents of the city a
story-like experience and inspire them to dream colourful
dreams in the middle of the darkest winter - and also remind them of how
fascinating their northern country is.
"The
Veljekset
animation and light artwork will bring our wild and exotic north to the wintry
city centre,
reminding us city dwellers of our forests that are still inhabited by strong,
expressive animals. I designed the Veljekset
pattern inspired by the main characters in Finnish folk tales, the so-called
totem animals, for Marimekko in celebration of the 100-year-old Finland. With
its lights, the Lux Helsinki festival will bring to life what on printed fabric
stands still," says print designer Maija Louekari.