The unique Mum's ball sculpture won the "Decorative Toy" competition in Helsinki. A work of art, but also serves as a home decor. Inside the handmade cover is a pilates ball so you can exercise and sit on it. Ball is made from recycled cotton and by African women. Mum’s ethical bag is also owned by the world's first woman defense minister Elisabeth Rehn. Her choice was black and white. No surprise as she is FInnish.

Vuonna 2006 Mum's oli Outin oma pieni tärkeä taideprojekti

In 2006, Mum's was Outi's art project  Mum’s started purely as an art project and that’s why Mum’s heart resides in art. Mum's mother has graduated as a visual artist from the sculpture line of the Turku Academy of Arts and as a visual arts teacher at Aalto University. The founding mum of Mum's actually continued her studies at Aalto University with the goal of a doctorate thesis in art, and her first trip to South Africa was part of the thesis. In South Africa, collaboration also began, and eventually ignored the ain for the doctoral thesis. Mum's was born. It combined all what was important and inspiring for Outi: art, design, craftsmanship and responsibilty,  helping people through employment, humanity, beauty as an aesthetic and spiritual experience. The though of doctorate was gone and Mum's got stronger.

In the beginning, Mum's "woven sculptures" were presented in museums and exhibitions all over Finland. Mrs. Jenni Haukio's wearing Mum's Flamingo brooch. It is handmade of telephone wire and small vintage glass beads by South African artisans.

In 2008, the art project also began to take shape as a business

The collaboration between South African women and Outi was based on combining areas of expertise: the skilled women knew craft and Outi, at some stage, knew how to draw. The women had craftsmanship at their peak and hoped that Outi would draw images for them that would be handcrafted into fabrics. With the finished image models, they immediately got into the craft work and were able to earn faster. Women could not draw - in their own words. The works completed in collaboration arrived in Finland and were exhibited at Out's art exhibitions. The first of them was at the Titanic Gallery in Turku. Outi named the aproject "Mum's" because it was a team collaboration. All 15 women happened to be mothers and Outi had four children of her own. Mum's name was conveniently derived from "mothers." Recycled materials were used in the works, and women were able to work from home, saving on travel expences and childcare costs. Artisans traveklled and gatheres at the workshop in Cape Town city once a week to return the finished handicraft. Textile  was quality checked, and signatured buy the artisan, it was purchased from the artisan. After this the women returned home with instructions and materials for the next commissioned work. The fabrics were then sewn into sculptures by other people.

At some point in Finland, the Turku museum store asked Mum's products for sale. Bags and jewelry were the only things Outi could think of for a museum shop. Unique, signed, colorful personalized, unique jewelry and bags handcrafted by African women with a responsible story and recycled material were sold well in the Nordic countries. The bags swung happily and proudly in the arms of Nordic women who promote art, design and ethics. The bag was appreciated for many reasons and carried with pride. At home, it was hung as visible as possible, as part of the interior.  

A wonderful  story about bags and a link to Mum's times at the Lieto dairy here.

Afrikkalaiset naiset valmistivat jättimäisiä "Mum's- säkkituolikäärmeitä", jotka olivat sekä kudottuja veistoksia että sisustustuotteita. Esiteltiin Fiskarsissa.

A loving sustainable marriage of Art and Design

Art and design are both visual. As an exacerbation: art is about self-expression, while design is about proposing solutions to a problem. Art can be interpreted in many different ways. Design, on the other hand, cannot be so interpretive as it must communicate effectively and clearly.  Textiles designed by Mum’s famous artists and designers are unique arts and crafts. They show not only the self-expression of the artist but also of the artisan. Every textile is made with as much care and quality as possible by hand. The materials are of the highest quality possible and always local, as local production also means short transport distances for the material for Mum's. The combination of art and design is fascinating. Art is always of a high quality, and many large companies strive for maximum profit in their products. Mum's makes high-quality, unique art products for sustainable development.

Mum’s stand at the Stockholm Furniture Fair in 2020 consisted of art altars dedicated to Mum's designers. Pictured here Jenni Juurinen and Outi, sitting along an althar for Teresa Moorhouse.

Doing art work in Africa.

TDoing art work in India and using art work in Helsinki !

Mum's is a piece of art

Doing slowly by hand is valuable in itself. The plans of artists and designers are works of art in themselves. Each unique treasure of Mum’s comes with a strong responsible value-based truth. Mum's is high quality, can be used at home and is also a work of sustainable art and design. Collectible and high quality. Visible production.

Keep well, make art.