The City of Pori Art Collection

A group of young people are gathered around a large sculpture in an exhibition at Pori Art Museum. The 2-meter-tall sculpture is made out of wood, polyurethane and fabric and it resembles a kneeling human figure with its side facing the photographer.

The City of Pori has been adding artworks to its art collection regularly since 1959. Pori Art Museum has overseen the collection since the opening of the museum in 1981. Currently, there are over 2,300 pieces in the collection. The collection comprises of Finnish and international art from the early 19th century to the present day, with emphasis on art created post-1950s.

Works of artists in the Satakunta region have been added in the collection since the late 1950s, and today Pori Art Museum is the only museum in Satakunta that actively collects fine art from the region. Since the foundation of Pori Art Museum, the guidelines on acquiring works for the collection have been shaped as part of the museum’s exhibition and research activities.

Works have been purchased especially from the exhibitions of the art museum and Poriginal Gallery, which has served as a way to document their exhibition histories. A team comprising of art museum staff is responsible for new acquisitions. In addition, works are sometimes donated to the collection.

As a result of the art museum’s exhibitions, the works of significant international artists have been added in the City of Pori Art Collection. Some of the pieces in the collection are works commissioned from artists in connection with exhibitions. A selection of the works acquired for the collection are placed on public display in various municipal facilities in Pori.

The Collection of Noormarkku Municipality

An encounter with a young boy and a hedgehog on a summer meadow. The boy is squatting to look at the hedgehog in front of him. He is barefoot and wearing summer clothes. He is holding a twig and reaching it towards the hedgehog, almost touching it. — Ilkka Lammi: Boy and hedgehog, 1995, oil on canvas, 89 x 73 cm, the Collection of Noormarkku Municipality Photo: Erkki Valli-Jaakola, Pori Art Museum

In 2010, the municipality of Noormarkku was annexed to the city of Pori. Pori Art Museum made an inventory and photographed all the artworks in the municipal offices in Noormarkku. These works were named the Collection of Noormarkku Municipality, which is now administered by Pori Art Museum. The collection consists of 47 pieces that are mainly by artists from Noormarkku and elsewhere in Satakunta. The pieces date from the 1950s to the 2000s. Most of the collection is on display in municipal facilities in Noormarkku.