Magdalena Abakanowicz's First Finnish Solo Exhibition at HAM Helsinki

HAM Helsinki Art Museum is staging the first solo exhibition in Finland of Magdalena Abakanowicz (1930–2017), one of the most renowned Polish artists of the 20th century. The show occupies the museum's two main halls, featuring her iconic woven textile sculptures known as Abakans—named after the artist in the 1960s—alongside later expressive sculptural series. Abakanowicz gained international recognition at the 1962 International Tapestry Biennial in Lausanne and won the Gold Medal at the São Paulo Biennial in 1965. Her career was shaped by the political constraints of communist Poland in the 1960s and 1970s, where her art represented a constant pursuit of freedom within a restricted system. The exhibition highlights her pioneering role in fiber art and her evolution as a sculptor.