Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art

The Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art was opened to the public in February 2007. The museum is situated in a former customs warehouse in the Inner Harbour of Vaasa. The building has 2,000 m² of space, which has been planned exclusively for museum activities. Thanks to the museum, both national and international exhibitions of modern and contemporary art are now a permanent feature of Vaasa’s artistic life.

The base collection in the Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art is the Kuntsi Foundation’s art collection – one of the most important classic collections of contemporary art in Finland covering pop art, kinetic art as well as committed art, informalism, surrealism, new expressionism, postmodernism… The more than 900 works forming the collection are a cross section of modern art history, from international modernists to the Finnish artists of today. But most of all, it is the classic collection of Finnish contemporary art created in the 1950s and onward.

The Kuntsi Collection is constantly growing and other nationally remarkable private collections are both deposited and donated in connection with it. Donations and depositions continue the work started by Consul Simo Kuntsi, and increase the importance of Vaasa in the modern and contemporary art world. Regular cooperation with other museums, artists and collectors in Finland and abroad further expands the museum’s operation as well as the exhibition offerings of the most topical art.

Kuntsi Museum of Modern Art is also a forum for inter-artistic collaboration: music, literature, dance and theatre form a self-evident part in the museum’s operation. The museum functions also as a teacher in art education. Different advised activities, guided tours, art clubs, workshops and lectures are organized in the museum. And an atelier called Studio has been especially designed for younger visitors. The Café Simo (closed at the moment), a Museum Shop and an art library are also available for visitors’ use in the museum.