Niina Hiltunen one of the finalists in The Artisan of the Year 2015 Competition

After my studies in textiles in renowned Wetterhoff education I took part in The Artisan of the Year 2015 Competition. The competition is held annually as a part of the Europe’s biggest Finnish Craft and Design Fair in Tampere, Finland, and it aims to maintain crafts itself, plus to promote the graduates on the fields of crafts and design. One of the goals of the competition is also to help artisans in their employment. All artisans graduating during the year, regardless of their field of study, are qualified to participate in the competition. The jury of the competition consists of expert members of the Fair Organisation and there is always a member of Finnish National Board of Education in it, too. Amongst the competitors, the jury usually chooses three finalists every year and the winner of the competition is announced on the first day of the Finnish Crafts and Design Fair in Tampere.

I had a great joy and pleasure to be chosen from as many as twenty (20) competitors and to be one of the three finalists in 2015.

The comments of the jury on my competition portfolio included the following: “Niina Hiltunen’s handwoven interior textiles form a stylish and harmonic collection, yet being fresh and up-to-date and meeting the requirements of high quality and elaborateness. Even though handwoven, Hiltunen’s textiles are easily to be modified into industrial production.

Have a look at the finalists of the competition.