Bryk & Wirkkala Visible Storage

Visible Storage takes a more revealing, in-depth look at the Bryk & Wirkkala Collectionand the museum’s behind-the-scenes work than a conventional exhibition. You are welcome to observe the museum’s photographers and conservation team at work in the exhibition space.

Roughly 2,000 items from the Bryk & Wirkkala Collection are on display in chronological order on the shelving around the space. The rest of the collection is stored in crates and on pallet racks on open display. The storage shelves and exhibition space are divided by a transparent wall highlighting archival and scholarly material related to the Bryk & Wirkkala Collection.

In the centre is a changing exhibitions space featuring topical themes that place the work of Rut Bryk and Tapio Wirkkala in dialogue with contemporary design and timeless classics.

A new display of Rut Bryk’s Seita textiles is on display in the vicinity of the Visible Storage. When creating the Seita fabric series, Bryk focused on the composition and joint effect of colours in the woven fabric. The fabrics were used in towels, tissues as well as other consumer textiles, once forming a product family of their own. The section on Seita fabrics has been curated by designer Greta Muuri.

Working in collaboration with the Tapio Wirkkala Rut Bryk Foundation and the City of Espoo, EMMA opened the Visible Storage and its one-of-a-kind collection by Rut Bryk and Tapio Wirkkala in 2017. The space was designed by Johanna Brummer and Heini-Emilia Saari (Wanderlust).