The Kaj Franck Design Prize 2000
Textile designer Ritva Puotila
Textile designer Ritva Puotila (born 1935) has pursued a career involving ryijy weaves and textiles, working in particular in linen and paper string. She is a versatile and successful designer, who has also created unique, one-off works alongside manufactured products. Ritva Puotila has worked as a freelance designer and in collaboration with Finnish and foreign companies.
Ritva Puotila began her career in art and household textiles. The Friends of Finnish Handicraft Society was her first client as a freelancer, but was soon joined by other companies, including Tampella in the late 1950s. In addition to work in Finland, Ritva Puotila has for many decades designed textiles for foreign companies, such as Dansk International Design in the United States.
At present, Ritva Puotila is best known for her paper-string products, which she designs for the Woodnotes company, of which she is also the artistic director. Today's high-standard paper-string carpets, table-setting products and interior decoration articles are the result of long-term persevering development. As the manufacture of paper string was about to end in Finland, Ritva Puotila's work has also entailed an element of risk. Developing the products also required work to develop their material and to maintain its production.
Ritva Puotila's CV includes, among other distinctions, the Gold Medal of the Milan Triennial of 1960, the Finnish State Design Prize of 1981, the 1996 Finland Prize of the Finnish Ministry of Education, and most recently the Textile Designer of the Year award in 2001.
Ritva Puotila has participated in numerous joint exhibitions in Finland and abroad, most recently in the summer of 2000 in Sweden together with Kaffe Fassett. Her works are on display in many public and private spaces. Ritva Puotila was featured in Design Forum Finland's Classic Makers exhibition in 1995, and her works were included in the Finnish Design 125 Years exhibition in 2000.
