Earlier this month, the Finnish Museum of Espoo Modern Art announced that writer and curator Krist Gruijthuijsen will serve as the next director and CEO. Between 2016 and 2024, Gruijthuijsen served as director of the influential KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin, and his mission is to curate, demonstrating resonance across the entire region and across the global art world. He curated Hanne Lippard, Ian Wilson, Adam Pendleton, Ronald Jones, Hiwa K, Willem de Rooij, Beatriz González, David Wojnarowicz, Hreinn Friðfinnsson, Hassan Sharif and Leonilson among others. We caught up with him and listen to his new show.
Congratulations on your new job! What makes you excited about the prospect of working with Emma?
Thank you! Emma is located in a strong geopolitical context and offers many possibilities and opportunities. Over the past few decades, the museum has developed an established name domestically and internationally with its international multidisciplinary program and its renowned architecture. Especially this forward-looking attitude has aroused my interest. I look forward to learning from the various collections supervised by the region and museums.
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Since you studied in Stockholm, this new article represents something to return home. What is the art world that Scandinavian art world may make readers feel unfamiliar with?
In fact, Finland is not part of Scandinavia but part of the wider Nordic region, which is exactly exciting for me. I will not be able to summarize the entire Nordic art world as every country has its own particularity. Finland, in particular, has a unique cultural identity, and its layered history between Sweden and Russia has been shaped. It is indeed a culture of its own, and the complexity is reflected in its artistic landscape in fascinating ways.
You are the director of the KW Institute of Contemporary Art in Berlin between 2016 and 2024. In that city, did the art of that city change during that time?
Politically speaking, Berlin changed dramatically during this period, which greatly affected the local art world and its production. Berlin, which I arrived in 2016, was eager to build a strong cultural stage, which offered many possibilities for growth. Unfortunately, the city fell into a depression due to Covid-19 and the ongoing war in Ukraine and Gaza. I still find Berlin a unique place for artistic expression, but it needs to be reconstructed, which is difficult in the current situation.
In Emma, you are replacing longtime director Pilvi Kalhama. What is your impression of the legacy he left in the institution?
Pilvi’s tenure was the basis for incorporating Emma into today’s institutions. The incredible growth of the museum in programming and institutional presence is attributed to her leadership. Emma’s unique image brings together contemporary and modern art and design and combines with long-term collaborations in the main collections to provide a rare and inspiring foundation.
Broadly speaking, what are your plans for Emma? What do you think is your mission?
First, I want to take the time to explore and learn about the many collections supervised by Emma. Only through this process can I start to define the direction more clearly. As the largest art museum in Finland, Emma has a unique location but is relatively young (will turn 20 next year), so there are many possibilities and potential to further develop the museum. Few international directors work in the artistic context of Finland and I believe bringing an external perspective can promote new synergy and collaboration locally and beyond. It’s very exciting to be part of shaping the next chapter.
You will not only be the director of Emma, but also the CEO. what does that mean?
I am responsible for the complete operation, including its business aspects. I think it is important to understand every angle and detail of the institution so that it can develop and develop further.
You are currently in the retrospective for Paul Thek in Kunsthaus Zürich. Can you tell us something?
A year ago, I was appointed as the entire curator by Kunsthaus Zürich to develop this retrospective, which will take several years and will travel to various other institutions. THEK’s practice is quite complex and requires a lot of research and preparation time, especially when completing new scholarships and new information surfaces continuously. Thek is an artist of a true artist whose influence on future generations is huge. The purpose of the exhibition was from the 1950s until its death in 1988.
