International collection

INTERNATIONAL COLLECTION OF CHILDREN’S AND YOUNG PEOPLE’S ART

The collection of children’s and young people’s art forms the core, around which the activities of the Art Centre for Children and Young People has grown. The seeds of the collection were sown when Eino Vesalainen, a Hyvinkää artist and art teacher, organised an international exhibition of children’s and young people’s art in 1971. The collection has further accumulated thanks to subsequent exhibitions, held every 3 or 4 years, and in 2010, the collection comprises approximately 100 000 artworks from some 130 countries.

The next international exhibition will be held in 2014. The aim of the exhibitions is not only to display art by children and young people, but also to collect pictorial evidence of the environment and surroundings that children and young people live in around the world. The exhibitions are often arranged around a loose theme, in 2010, it was My Home. All the artworks submitted are included in the international collection of children’s and young people’s art. Artworks in the collection are compiled into exhibitions and displayed in the centre’s own gallery. These exhibitions are also loaned out to other venues. Individual artworks are also given on loan to public and corporate buildings.

The artworks in the collection are mainly drawings, paintings and prints on paper. The age of the artists in the collection ranges from 3 to 20. The international exhibitions have separate series for under 7 year olds, 7 to 9 year olds, 10 to 12 year olds,13 to 15 year olds and 16 to 18 year olds.

The collection is being digitised and catalogued. Digitised artworks are displayed at different web exhibitions and virtual exhibitions. The web exhibitions can be accessed through this website. Approximately half of the collection is now in digital format and indexed, and at the disposal of researchers at the Art Centre for Children and Young People.