Workshop for making a traditional Karelian towel Kaspaikka

21.02.2026—22.02.2026

12.00—16.00

Serlachius Residency

Free admission

A Käspaikka towel by the name ”Orusjärvi women” embroidered by Lauri Linna. The motif has been preserved at the birth village of Linna’s grandfather at Orusjärvi in Salmi early 20th century. The original towel has been embroidered by Maria Käki.

Käspaikka-towel workshop

As part of his exhibition Wind Place for Ancestors, artist Lauri Linna, who works at the Serlachius Residency, will organise a workshop on Saturday 21 February and Sunday 22 February from 12 noon to 4 pm, where you can come and try out Karelian embroidery.

The workshop works non-stop, so you can arrive at any time you want. However, reserve an hour or two if you want to finish the embroidery. Lauri Linna himself embroidered at the Serlachius Residence for his Karelian ancestors, who lived in the village of Kolho in Vilppula after the war. A multilingual community of several hundred immigrant workers settled in Kolho. In recent years, Linna has rediscovered his family’s Karelian past by relearning the Karelian language and practicing Karelian embroidery.
  
In Karelia, embroidered wind cloths were originally cloths tied to trees that were considered sacred. Since then, they have begun to be embroidered as mourning work on the graves of the deceased. These cloths, tied to wooden crosses in graves, may have been embroidered with decorations related to a person’s life. According to an old tradition, the cloth was allowed to break down with the wooden cross and it was not supposed to be replaced with a new one. The grief and remembrance had ended. Nowadays, of course, cloths and crosses are replaced, washed and maintained.
  
The wind cloths are related to the Karelian handicraft tradition. Käspaikka-towels are also embroidered cloths with a variety of things embroidered on them, such as holy people, trees of life, family stories. Perhaps the best-known of their patterns are the diverse birds.

Traditionally, the Käspaikk-towels have had many tasks in Karelian life. Lauri Linna ties the wind cloth he embroidered at the residence to Kolho near his great-grandparents’ old home, where it is allowed to disintegrate in the weather and nature.

Admission to the workshop and exhibition is free. Welcome! Serlachius Residence is located at Kauppaneuvoksenkatu 3, Mänttä.