In-person

What Is Nordic Design: Finland

2655 NW Market Street, Seattle, WA 98107

206.789.5707

Welcome to the first installment of What is Nordic Design: Finland! We are delighted to welcome Susanna Thiel, Chief Curator, Collections, Design Museum, Helsinki and Shelley Selim, Curator of Design and Contemportary Art, Indianpolis Museum of Art, to explore Nordic Design from the Finnish perspective.

Note: all sessions in the What is Nordic Design series will be available on YouTube and MyNordic shortly following the program. To learn more about MyNordic, please click here.

About the Series:

Simplicity, minimalism, and functionality are three pillars that many use to describe “Nordic” Design. But what exactly is Nordic design? In this new series, we will explore and celebrate the influence and evolution of design in each Nordic country (Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden) and consider a national school of design against the idea of pan-Nordic design. Each session will investigate the history of design in the country under consideration, and it will pose the question: What is “Nordic” design? Design experts from each Nordic country will be paired with a curator of design at a US museum for a stimulating conversation.

Speakers

Susanna Thiel

Susanna Thiel (MA) has been serving as the Head of Collections at Design Museum Helsinki since 2020. In her role, she has been dedicated to the development of open access collections, making the museum's treasures more accessible to a wider audience.
Bio

Susanna Thiel

Susanna Thiel (MA) has been serving as the Head of Collections at Design Museum Helsinki since 2020. In her role, she has been dedicated to the development of open access collections, making the museum's treasures more accessible to a wider audience.

Her involvement in the working group for activity-based exhibitions has provided visitors with a unique perspective into the inner workings of the museum.

With a knack for curatorial work, Susanna has collaborated on a number of exhibitions (Kaj Franck, Timo Sarpaneva, Arabia Porcelain Factory) that blend artistry and storytelling to resonate with diverse audiences. Beyond her exhibition contributions, she has also shared her expertise through articles published on the collections of Design Museum Helsinki, contributing to a deeper understanding of their cultural importance.
Shelley Selim

Shelley Selim is the Curator of Design and Contemporary Art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, where she develops the curatorial program for one of the largest museum design collections in the nation and two historic homes. She has curated, published, and lectured widely on topics related to modern and contemporary design, craft, and art, and her work often examines the increasingly nebulous boundaries between these disciplines.
Bio

Shelley Selim

Shelley Selim is the Curator of Design and Contemporary Art at the Indianapolis Museum of Art, where she develops the curatorial program for one of the largest museum design collections in the nation and two historic homes. She has curated, published, and lectured widely on topics related to modern and contemporary design, craft, and art, and her work often examines the increasingly nebulous boundaries between these disciplines.

Her current curatorial project, Daughter/Mother/Ancestor: Threads of Connection, explores the ways that women artists of the past and present preserve intergenerational skill-sharing and materialize familial love through long-standing traditions in textile work. She has previously held curatorial positions at Cranbrook Art Museum in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and the Museum of Arts and Design in New York. She has taught design history courses at Parsons, the New School for Design, and lectured at the History of Design and Curatorial Studies Master’s program jointly administered by Parsons and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum—where she received her MA in the History of Decorative Arts and Design in 2013.