The Craftsman’s Signature

The Craftsman’s Signature –exhibition covers the 50-year career of master goldsmith, leather craftsman and artist Harri Syrjänen (b. 1949). Syrjänen founded his first own workshop in the basement of his parents’ house in Espoo under the name Finnespot in 1971. His first models for both jewellery and belts bore the Fantti -design. The workshop, however, grew small and Syrjänen founded his next workshop in the Rajatorppa-area of Vantaa. In 1981 the business was moved to Helsinki to the address Ratakatu 1, next to the Design Museum. Syrjänen’s idea of having the craftsman working inside the shop for the customers to see increased interest and brought in new customers. Syrjänen knew what he was doing, and his workshop can still be found at the same address.

In 2008 Syrjänen studied for a master’s title at the Salpaus Further Education -school in Lahti. In his own workshop Syrjänen has been able to pass down his expertise and teach some three hundred interns how even a small workshop can become economically beneficial.

Syrjänen’s work radiates craftsmanship, a joy in his work, and his skill in interpreting current affairs, sometimes using quite dark humor. In Harri Syrjänen’s own words: “Often, when I open the door to my workshop in the morning, I feel joy to be able to work in my own workshop, to create, and to meet my customers. To me, my workshop is a craftsman’s ‘laboratory’, it provides an opportunity for new experiments. I can rummage and search for the right material for the next project – or I’ll just sit down, take my guitar, play a chord and hum the melody of some familiar song.”

Everything bears the craftsman’s signature.