Poikilo: Kosketuksissa

In Touch, Tuuli Autio, Soile Hovila, Tiia Matikainen and Melissa Sammalvaara

Kouvola Art Museum Poikilo 29.1.–26.4.2026.

In Touch – the art of concentration presents four experts in material-based art who have a renewing touch on tradition. Knowledge of the material and concentration are central to the artists’ work. Tuuli Autio sculpts with an axe while listening to the wood, and Tiia Matikainen works the surface of clay by carving and scratching while drawing. Soile Hovila woven an eleven-square-meter tapestry for three years, and Melissa Sammalvaara hand-tied 10,000 ryijy knots into one work. The artists are united by thinking by hand, long-term working processes, and the search for a connection to nature.

Does a restless mind calm down when faced with a work of art? 

Art invites us to be present and in contact with the present moment, other people, and ourselves. The various natural materials used in the works and the skillfully crafted surfaces of the sculptures and textiles invite you to touch them. On the top floor of the museum, you can explore the works by touching them and, for example, walking barefoot on a relief path carved from wood.

The video work by visual arts educator Olli Silvennoinen lets the viewer inside the creation of the works. The meditative video work tells the story of thinking hands and physical interaction with materials. The rhythmic movement of tools and hands gradually shape the natural materials into the works of art in this exhibition. The video work can be seen at Kino-Poikilo during the exhibition.

The artists’ work has been supported by the Arts Promotion Centre of Finland, the Central Fund of the Finnish Cultural Foundation, the Häme and Kymenlaakso Funds, the Alfred Kordelin Foundation and the Finnish National Board of Antiquities.

Poikilo Museums, Varuskuntakatu 11, Kouvola House, door A.

Open: Tue-Fri 11-18, Sat-Sun 12-17. Price: adults 11 euros/ 8 euros /Museum card. Free admission for those under 18. Admission to the Art Museum and the City Museum is free on Fridays from 16-18.