One of Scandinavia’s largest individual collections of outsider art is K.H. In the possession of the Renlund Museum. Some of the works will be seen next spring in Helsinki.
Operating in Central Ostrobothnia, K.H. Renlund Museum’s extensive collection of outsider art has attracted national interest. Outsider art is mainly art outside the academic art world, made by self-taught artists.
Next spring, the National Museum of Finland will present the museum’s collections.
The Kokkola Museum’s collection is one of the most significant individual collections in the field in Scandinavia.
In total, the Kokkola museum currently has 600 works, mostly paintings and small wood sculptures. About 250–300 of them will be seen in the National Museum next May.
Expectations are indeed high.
– For the first time, we get to properly present what kind of works the collection contains. Due to the lack of a large enough space, the collection has not been so extensively exhibited before. We are eagerly waiting for it to come to the attention of a wider audience, says Kristina Ahmas.
In the future, the Kokkola Museum intends to distinguish itself in the field of more than 300 museums in Finland with outsider art, that is, to highlight the margin of art.
It also intends to profile itself as a museum of outsider art, which is believed to be an attractive factor for the city of Kokkola.
– We have something to distinguish ourselves. The future is built on outsider art. However, that requires visibility, new facilities to present the collections and more workforce, the museum’s executive director sums up.
Over the years, the museum has received significant collection donations of Central European naive art from Germany and Switzerland.
_Title changed on 26.8.2022 at 10:25. Removed the word outsider from the title and replaced it with a more detailed word_