Textile Art Pioneer Maija Lavonen Deserves Her Place Among Finland’s Greats.

We can discover her work at a Groundbreaking Exhibition, called »Quietly Monumental,

It will be shown at » the Architecture and Design Museum in Helsinki.

« I run into a meadow filled with blooming globeflowers. I am so small that the yellow sea of colour sways at eye level. I run into it, and at that very moment I suddenly grasp the essence of colour—the yellow mass surrounding me, the scent of the flowers as the evening dampness sets in. It is then that I realise colour can be an overwhelming emotion, an expansive surface, and even the dream of light and scent. » – Maija Lavonen

Maija Lavonen: « Quietly Monumental » 31 January – 14 September 2025
Architecture and Design Museum, Korkeavuorenkatu 23, Helsinki, Finland

Maija Lavonen (1931–2023) stands among Finland’s most significant artists and is internationally recognised as a pioneer in textile art. Over her long career, Lavonen developed innovative techniques, modernised the Finnish rya rug tradition, and spearheaded a textile art boom in Finland with her large-scale, spatial works. Even in the 21st century, she continued innovating by weaving fibre optics into her creations. The Architecture and Design Museum’s exhibition offers a comprehensive exploration of Lavonen’s body of work, based on an extensive archival donation received in 2023.

 A Visionary and Trailblazer in Textile Art

« Maija Lavonen deserves her place among Finland’s great masters of design and art, » states the Architecture and Design Museum’s curator, Harry Kivilinna. « A major transformation in textile art began in Finland in the early 1970s, and Lavonen was a key figure who achieved international acclaim. Throughout her career, she boldly embraced new materials and techniques. The tradition of experimentation she pioneered continues to influence textile art today. Thanks to Lavonen, textile art is no longer seen in Finland as a niche field but as an integral part of contemporary art. »

By the 1980s, Lavonen was one of Finland’s most celebrated textile artists, her distinctive style gracing major public and semi-public spaces. Today, however, a wave of demolitions targeting buildings from the 1970s and 1980s threatens the survival of many of these site-specific works of art.

The 1980s Boom Revolutionised Spatial Art – Lavonen at the Forefront of International Textile Art

Although Finland has offered professional textile art education since 1929 and produced numerous prominent artists, the true golden age of Finnish textile art only began in the 1980s. The economic boom of the era saw the construction of numerous public buildings and corporate headquarters, such as bank offices, which often featured large and impressive commissioned textile works. Textile artists became celebrated figures of their time, gaining significant public recognition.

Maija Lavonen transitioned to working as an independent textile artist in the 1970s. After modernising the rya rug tradition, she began creating large-scale spatial works, pioneering a technique of combining handwoven wide ribbons into monumental pieces. By the early 2000s, fibre optics became her primary material. For Lavonen, the interplay between the materials, the structure of the textiles, and the surrounding space was essential. The architecture and light of the settings often formed the starting points for her works.

Lavonen was particularly fascinated by combining technical materials with textiles. Her Voyage piece, composed of strips of oxidised copper mesh, was displayed in 2002 at the meditation room of UNESCO’s Paris headquarters, designed by Tadao Ando.

Sea, Forest, and Northern Light – A Childhood Rooted in Nature

« Maija Lavonen’s legacy for Finnish art and design is immense. She revolutionised the expression of traditional textile art while maintaining a modern and minimalist style in her work. Her bold experimentation and boundless curiosity have been central to her output, » says Kivilinna. « Lavonen belongs to the elite of Finnish design, alongside figures like Yrjö Kukkapuro and Oiva Toikka. With this exhibition, we aim to present Lavonen’s work in the breadth and sensitivity it deserves. »

Childhood experiences, particularly the landscapes of northern Finland – the sea, forests, and meadows – held lifelong significance for Lavonen. She often returned to these memories, which became a rich source of inspiration for her textile works. For example, her piece Night in Olhava, which marked her first use of light in her art, depicts the constellation Ursa Major in the northern hemisphere on a frosty January evening. The work is based on a childhood memory of sitting on her father’s shoulders outdoors after a sauna.

« In my work, I search for a human connection; I want to offer something to people who feel weary. I hope to convey the movement of summer light on the surface of the sea, the song of the waves, the reddish hues of rocky islets, the sun’s heat, and the warmth of stones under leisurely clouds. » – Maija Lavonen

Maija Lavonen


Maija Lavonen (née Luukela) was born in the village of Olhava in Ii, in northern Finland and spent her childhood and youth in the city of Kemi. Trained as a fashion designer, she began designing interior textiles in the late 1960s, and in 1968 founded Poppi Boutique in Helsinki, a pioneering business operating at the intersection of fashion and visual art. By the late 1970s, she had become a full-time textile artist and, by the 1980s, one of Finland’s most prominent figures in the field. Her works can be found in spaces such as Finland’s Parliament House, government ministries, the Bank of Finland headquarters, embassies, and churches.

Lavonen was married to visual artist Ahti Lavonen, and their mutual influence significantly shaped each other’s artistic philosophies. Her first solo exhibition, held in Helsinki’s Kluuvi Gallery in 1970, was part of her mourning process after her husband’s passing. A major turning point in her career came with her solo exhibition in 1978 at the Wäinö Aaltonen Museum in Turku. In addition to her artistic practice, Lavonen also was a teacher at the University of Art and Design Helsinki from 1985 to 1994. She was named Textile Artist of the Year in 1996 and became an honorary member of Ornamo, Finland’s association for design professionals.