The iconic Magdalena Abakanowicz turns HAM into a forest of textiles

Magdalena Abakanowicz rose to international fame as an artist who liberated textiles from the walls, transforming them into three-dimensional, immersive installations. She suspended her large woven sculptures from the ceiling, creating unique environments, and her textile sculptures came to be known as Abakans after her surname.

“We have been dreaming about an exhibition on Magdalena Abakanowicz at HAM Helsinki Art Museum for three years now and have been working hard to make it happen. Our dream is finally coming true, as Abakanowicz’s powerfully physical and mystical works are taking over our museum’s large arched halls. This exhibition continues HAM’s long-standing commitment to showcasing the work of significant female artists,” says Museum Director Arja Miller.

The exhibition brings together 58 independent works and series of works that offer an impressive overview of Magdalena Abakanowicz’s oeuvre. On display are works that emphasise scale and seriality: among them are the over 12-metre-high Abakan Monumental Composition (1973–75), large groups of headless human figures, and mutant figures over two metres tall, both seated and standing.

A bold boundary-breaker

Magdalena Abakanowicz wanted to be seen, above all, as a contemporary sculptor.  She pushed the boundaries of both textile art and traditional sculpture. Abakans were not textiles with a practical purpose, but at the same time, due to their material, did not meet the existing definitions of sculpture either. The artist’s career was also affected by the political realities of her time: in communist Poland during the 1960s and 70s, her art involved constantly seeking freedom within a restricted environment. Despite the restrictions, she built a distinguished international career.

“Magdalena Abakanowicz brought natural fibres to the attention of the art world and developed a highly distinctive artistic style. Over the course of her 60-year career, she created a wide variety of works across different fields of art, pushed boundaries and combined various creative approaches and forms of expression. She lived for experimentation,” says the exhibition curator, Eulalia Domanowska, Director of the State Gallery of Art in Sopot, Poland, describing the artist’s multidisciplinary practice.

From a forest of textiles to burlap sculptures

The first part of the exhibition features the artist’s fibre works from the late 1950s to the late 1970s: early woven pieces, rope works and Abakans, which have been installed as a spatial environment – a kind of forest of textiles – according to the artist’s original instructions.

The second part focuses on burlap sculptures, which the artist began making in the early 1970s. The sculptures consist of a series of similar forms, depicting groups of people and various forms from nature. They reflect Abakanowicz’s lifelong interest in humanity, nature and all organic matter which is a key theme of her art.

The exhibition also features Jarosław Brzozowski and Kazimierz Mucha’s 13-minute documentary Abakany (1970), for which the artist’s Abakans were installed on the sand dunes of Łeba on the northern coast of Poland. During the exhibition, HAM will also screen the biographical documentary ABAKAMANIA. Magdalena Abakanowicz – An Individual Artist (2025) by Róża Fabjanowska and Sławek Malcharek.

Join in at the Weaving Club

For the duration of the exhibition, HAM’s art workshop will host a Weaving Club where you can learn about weaving, meet like-minded people and hang out, taking inspiration from the art of Magdalena Abakanowicz. In the workshop, you can participate in guided sessions or work on your own. The Weaving Club is open daily and is implemented in collaboration with textile designer Rosa Tolnov Clausen.

First Finnish publication on Abakanowicz

The Magdalena Abakanowicz: Crossing Boundaries exhibition will be accompanied by an eponymous over 170-page book. Comprising an extensive collection of images of artworks along with archive photographs, the richly illustrated volume provides a comprehensive introduction to the artist’s long career. It is the first book about the artist to be published in Finland. The publication includes previously unpublished texts by the exhibition’s curator Eulalia Domanowska and by Marta Kowalewska, Chair of the Board of the Marta Magdalena Abakanowicz Kosmowska and Jan Kosmowski Foundation. In addition, the book features articles contributed by its editors Emma Lilja and Satu Metsola, as well as HAM Museum Director Arja Miller. 

Extensive collaboration with Polish lenders 

All works in the exhibition are on loan from Polish collections. A total of nine lenders is involved, with the most prominent being the Marta Magdalena Abakanowicz Kosmowska and Jan Kosmowski Foundation in Warsaw and the Teresa & Andrzej Starmach Collection in Kraków. Additional works have been loaned from several other private and museum collections, including the National Museum in Warsaw.

The exhibition has been curated by Eulalia Domanowska, Director of the State Gallery of Art in Sopot. The exhibition is organised in cooperation with the Marta Magdalena Abakanowicz Kosmowska and Jan Kosmowski Foundation. The exhibition is supported by the Adam Mickiewicz Institute, co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage of the Republic of Poland.

INVITATION to the media – Crossing Boundaries

Media representatives are invited to explore the exhibition on Tuesday 5 May at 10 AM. The media event will feature speeches from HAM’s Museum Director Arja Miller, Head of Exhibitions Kati Kivinen and Curator Satu Metsola, as well as the curator for this exhibition, Eulalia Domanowska, Director of the State Gallery of Art in Sopot. The event will be held in Finnish and English.

Location: HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Eteläinen Rautatiekatu 8

Registrations: By Monday, 4 May, by 12 PM: stina.virkamaki@hamhelsinki.fi