No sleeping beauty

Speech by Daniel Sachs at the 70th anniversary of Artek

Artek is turning 70. It is a respectable age for a company, but it is a company with very good genes. It is inescapable to think of Alvar Aalto as the father of Artek. His contribution to Artek can of course not be overstated. The modernist foundation of Artek, the importance of his integrated view of how life should harmonise with the physical environment and his humane attitude to furniture.

But Artek was not all Aalto. Artek was not about furniture and definitely not about design – it was much more than that. It was also the form, creative inspiration and support of Aino Aalto, the organisational talent of Nils Gustaf Hahl and – even more instrumental – the international cultural outlook, communication skills and industrial roots of Maire Gullichsen.

Artek was also a social environment and from the very beginning a modern retail operation. As Hahl put it, “a sales and propaganda center for the new housing ideology”.

Artek was also about innovative production technology. Aalto’s Artek hours were spent at least as much on the factory floor with Otto Kohronen as in the office.

Artek was a sincere attempt to connect art and technology – cooperating with international contemporary artists at the same time as being securely rooted in the Finnish wood industry and Aaltos Architectural vision – where his furniture evolved as an accompaniment to his architecture. Artek was part of the ambition of a new total environment, a way of life and changing social conditions. Artek was democratic.

Artek was also an important and sophisticated part of the Finnish art scene, introducing modernist painters, sculptors and other artists to Helsinki.

Artek was effortlessly international. “för ökad mondial aktivitet”. The Finnish roots are inescapable, but so is the reflection in Artek of the modernist movement which was truly European.

To merely call Artek a company would be a major understatement. Even if the company and the products of Artek are the physical reminder of the history, to me the important heritage is the ideology and the culture. This unusual mix of form, function, art, modernism and industry that became Artek and that feels so very contemporary today.

Proventus has owned Artek for roughly a fifth of its life time. It all started when Åke Tjäder, as a representative of the family, contacted Robert Weil and asked Robert to help save Artek and its cultural heritage. We have handled Artek very carefully during this time out of respect for the strength of the heritage. Our respect is – I think – even greater today, but a couple of years ago we also started to question what is really the best way to carry forward the tradition of the founders. The furniture felt increasingly alone and the initial culture and idea was merely a memory. Artek was still a classic range of furniture, but you can question whether it was still innovative in production technology, whether there was a strong connection to art and whether it was truly international.

When looking at it that way, it became natural to try and revitalise the Artek culture. As owners, we are committed to doing that! I believe it is the only way that we can progress. Of course, it will never be exactly the same – the Artek of the 1930’s was a very personal being marked by the strong individuals that formed it. If we would try to recreate that, we would fail. Instead, we should create a contemporary Artek based on the same basic ideas. Artek must again stand for art and technology, for innovation and internationalism. Modernisation is the best way to preserve the history. Internationalism is the best way to connect to the Finnish roots.

It is for these reasons that we have entered into our partnership with Tom Dixon. In addition to the modernised version of the original culture, the new Artek must also be built on clear creative direction and professional management. In that context, I have high hopes for the potential of Tom and Mirkku, with the support of David, creating a new energy in Artek.

I sometimes meet people who worry that we will not keep developing Artek gently, in a way that Aalto would have approved of. I will ask them – do you think that Aalto would have approved of Artek's development as an institution? People tend to think mainly of the product – the furniture. This is of course important, but I think it is more complex than that – one also has to remember that the development of the ideology and culture that Artek represented was at least as important to Aalto as the physical products. If looking down from the clouds at Artek in last decades – yes he would have recognised the product, but I think there is a risk that he would have asked – where is the radicalism? He may even have thought it was quite a boring company – too much of a sleeping beauty.

To use Aaltos own words: “There are only two things in art – humanity or its lack. The mere form, some detail in itself, does not create humanity.”

So, finally I would like carefully and with all respect to wish this 70 year old a happy anniversary. I actually think it is a 70 year old which is looking more energetic and happier than it has for many years.