Tacit Knowledge

What kinds of knowledge and skill lie behind the making of craft? Tacit Knowledge, an exhibition by Nuutajärvi Glass, explores material understanding and expertise that can only be passed from one maker to another through the act of making itself.

The exhibition examines the transmission of knowledge, mastery of craft, and the significance of handcrafted works. It highlights a living tradition while asking what forms of knowledge, skill, and making culture we wish to preserve and carry forward into the future.

Featuring works by multiple artists, the exhibition primarily showcases glass, while also including works in metal, textiles, and site-specific installation. The works explore tacit knowledge as a process of learning and mastery, as creative thinking rooted in material practice, and as knowledge passed between people and across generations.

Craftsmanship is more than technical proficiency. It is a deep understanding of material—an embodied form of knowledge residing in the hands, developed through repetition, experience, and sustained practice. Finished works carry within them this tacit knowledge, accumulated through years of practice, experimentation, failure, insight, and achievement.

Specialized craft knowledge survives only when it is actively practiced, shared, and passed on.

In 2023, the knowledge and skills associated with handmade glass were inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. In Nuutajärvi, glassmaking knowledge has been transmitted for more than 230 years from master craftspeople to new generations through collaboration, observation, and hands-on learning. The exhibition is presented in the Vinttigalleria, located on the upper floor of the Prykäri Glass Museum, which tells the story of Nuutajärvi’s glassmaking heritage.

Admission to the exhibition is included with a ticket to the Prykäri Glass Museum. Some works are available for purchase.

Artists:

• Henri Carrara
• Slate Grove
• Jarl Hohenthal
• Alma Jantunen
• Jani Kaski
• Tommi Ketonen
• Otto Koivuranta
• Antti Kuikka
• Jaakko Liikanen
• Tarmo Maaronen
• Reima Maaronen
• Samuli Parkkinen
• Janne Rahunen
• Johannes Rantasalo
• Helmi Remes
• Jussi Sistonen
• Antti Torstensson