President of the Republic Tarja Halonen has awarded textile and fashion designer Vuokko Nurmesniemi the title of Academician of Art on 12 October 2007, on the proposal of the Arts Council of Finland. President Halonen conferred the title on Vuokko Nurmesniemi at a ceremony organised by the Arts Council of Finland at the House of Estates. 

The title of Academician of Arts can be held by a maximum of eight artistsat any one time. The Arts Council of Finland nominated the new holder of the title following the death of Academician Bertel Gardberg. The other current Academicians of Art are author Paavo Haavikko, architect Juha Leivislä, author Veijo Meri, graphic artist Outi Heiskanen, conductor Jorma Panula, and theatre director Ralf Långbacka.

The grounds for the nomination are as follows:

Textile and Fashion Designer Vuokko Nurmesniemi (b.1930) trained initially as a ceramic artist at the Institute of Industrial Art. Her career as a fashion and textile designer began in 1953 when Armi Ratia hired her as a designer in Marimekko.

Vuokko Nurmesniemi went on to revolutionise Finnish clothing design and wrote a new chapter in the history of printed fabric by creating a novel architectural content both for clothes and fabrics. They conveyed a strong message of a new trend in Finnish industrial art and put Finland on the world map of fashion. 

Vuokko Nurmesniemi established a company under her own name in 1964, taking charge of the entire process from design to sales and marketing.
Her sculpturally simple and streamlined style and unyielding focus on high quality made her an icon among her clientele, creating nothing short of a school swearing by her design.
Vuokko Nurmesniemi still has a strong presence as a designer in her company, creating new items for her loyal, long-standing customers as well as new fans.

Her significance, together with that of her husband, the late interior architect Antti Nurmesniemi, as the untiring heralds of Finnish design is internationally remarkable. The awards and prizes she has received, as well her influence on various art and design exhibitions starting from the Milan Triennale and as a facilitator of international relations are irreplaceable.  Nurmesniemi’s retrospective held at the Design Museum closed last September.

There are few who can follow in the footsteps of this leading pioneer and visionary, but her example and work live on in the work of new designer generations.

Further information
Hannu Saha, Chairperson of the Arts Council of Finland, +358 9 1607 7333,

The decisions of the artist grants are made in the meetings of the relevant committees during September. Letters informing the applicants about the decisions, both positive and negative, are mailed to the applicants as soon as possible after the decision has been made.

The decisions are published on the web and given to media as follows:

The National Council for Architecture: 17 September
The National Council for Desing: 18 September
The National Council for Music: 19 September
The National Council for Theatre: 20 September
The National Council for Cinema: 24 September
The National Council for Dance: 25 September
The National Council for Visual Arts: 26 September
The National Council for Photographic Art: 27 November
The National Council for Literature: 3 October
The Central Arts Council: 4 October

The Working Group for the Development of Cultural Exports has drawn up the Programme for Cultural Export Promotion 2007-2011.

 The objective is to facilitate the emergence of cultural sectors into export sectors equal to other export sectors, and thereby improve employment, support business development as well as increase the turnover of companies operating in creative sectors. It is estimated that in total, some 228 million Euros will be allocated to the implementation of the Cultural Exports Programme between 2007 and 2011.

The proposal was received by the Minister of Culture Tanja Saarela, the Minister for Foreign Affairs Erkki Tuomioja, the Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Paula Lehtomäki and the Minister of Trade and Industry Mauri Pekkarinen.

 Read the abstract here.