Marjatta Metsovaara

Marjatta Metsovaara (1927-2014) was one of Finland's leading contemporary designer. She was very advanced textile designer for her time, using non-tradional materials for her art textiles. She was best remembered for her beautiful wall-coverings made of partly with traditional materials like wool and linen and partly with plastic- and metal. Besides traditional woven textiles, Marjatta Metsovaara's design work was concentrated in the 70s on printed cottons. 

 She is also one of those three internationally acknowledged Finnish women, who were, in the 50s, both talented textile artists and great businesswomen.The others were Armi Ratia (1912-1979) who was founder of Marimekko and Vuokko Nurmesniemi (1930-) a founder of Vuokko Oy. 

International recognition followed her designs. She won a gold medal in 1960 at the 12th Triennale in Milan. Other awards were the Signe d'Or, Brussels 1968 and the Pro Finlandia, Helsinki 1970. Metsovaara's exhibition in Vienna in 1961 also attracted attention all the way from the United States.

Metsovaara has recently teamed up with finnish weaving mill Annala Oy for a collection of textiles based on the designs of Marjatta Metsovaara to bring her timeless, beloved designs to 21st century furniture.