Krist Gruijthuijsen to Lead Espoo Museum of Modern Art
129May 28, 2025
Curator and writerKrist Gruijthuijsenhas been appointed museum director and chief executive officer of EMMA–Espoo Museum of Modern Art. Gruijthuijsen arrives to EMMA, Finland’s largest art museum, from Kunsthaus Zürich, where he is curator at large. He will step into his new role on October 1. Gruijthuijsen replaces EMMA’s longtime director Pilvi Kalhama, who departs in August to become the inaugural director of the forthcoming Museum of Architecture and Design in Helsinki.
The Netherlands–born Gruijthuijsen is currently developing a Paul Thek retrospective for Kunsthaus Zürich. From 2016 to 2024, he served as director of KW Institute for Contemporary Art in Berlin. Previous roles include those of director of Grazer Kunstverein in Graz, Austria (2012–16), and course director of the MA Fine Arts Department at the Sandberg Instituut in Amsterdam (2011–2016). From 2009 to 2012, Gruijthuijsen was a cofounding director of Kunstverein in Amsterdam.
“Krist Gruijthuijsen impressed us with his visionary leadership and deep commitment fostering innovative and critical artistic practices,” said Saija Äikäs, board chair of the EMMA Art Museum Foundation, in a statement. “Under his guidance, EMMA will embark on a new chapter in order to continue to grow as a dynamic platform for thought-provoking modern and contemporary art and design, while strengthening its role both locally and internationally.”
“I am especially excited by EMMA’s ambitious, flexible and forward-thinking attitude,” said Gruijthuijsen in a statement. “With its international multidisciplinary program and striking architecture, the museum has become an established institution in the region. EMMA’s location at the crossroads of Scandinavia and the Baltic States offers a strong geopolitical context, full of potential and opportunities.”
Noting that his connection to Finland dates back to the 2000s, when he was a student in Stockholm and visited Helsinki for the first time, Gruijthuijsen expressed pleasure at returning to the Nordic region. “I believe institutions such as EMMA are becoming increasingly important as our understanding of what is considered ‘peripheral’ and what is considered ‘central’ continues to shift,” he said, concluding, “I am looking forward learning from the region and the various collections the museum oversees.”