Open House Day at the Saari Residence on Saturday, 24 May 2025, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Saaren kartano (Saari Manor)
Saaren rantatie 21
23140 Hietamäki

Starting at 11 a.m., the Saari Residence will host, among other things, the Bagygonia baby theatre from Turku. This theatre is intended for children aged 6 months to 2.5 years accompanied by adults, but you can also come without a baby.

You can explore the history and landscape of the area on landscape walks led by Elisa Lähde and Eveliina Kunnaton, landscape architects from Aalto University. They will present the Saari Residence and Aalto University Beyond Sustainability collaboration project. In the main building, you can learn about the eventful history of the Saari Manor with the guidance of archaeologist Kari Uotila.

You can explore the works by visual artist Saari Alumni Maippi Ketola from the project I Want To See What I Look Like. You can also visit the latest works in the Culture Trail exhibition in the surrounding nature of Saari Manor. Along the path, you can see works by poet Milka Luhtaniemi and artist Emilia Sølvsten (Denmark/Netherlands), who worked in the residency this spring.

You can make a medal and a certificate of honour in the workshop led by Saari Residence’s community artist Pia Bartsch.

Visitors can build birdhouses under the guidance of the Nature Conservation Association of the Mynämäki Region.

Complimentary coffee will be served by The Martha Association of Mietoinen.

We arrange free bus transportation from Turku via Mynämäki village.

The event is free of charge and open to all.

The event’s language is Finnish.

Event’s Facebook page

PROGRAMME

WELCOME

11.00-11.15 in front of the main building
Annika Dahlsten, Residency Director.

BABY THEATRE BABYGONIA

11.30-12.00 and 14.00-14.30 at Jacob’s barn
Baby theatre in Mietoinen, Mynämäki!

Babygonia, a theatre group from Turku, invites families with children to participate and enter the world of performance! In the performance, you are allowed to go boldly with or against the flow of the performance. You can watch how the space changes, participate, feel, or just be and listen to the sounds around you.
We recommend that babies aged 6-18 months attend the 11.30 a.m. show and toddlers (1.5-2.5 years) attend the 2 p.m. show. You can also come with or without an older child.

HISTORY OF SAARI MANOR

11.30 and 13.00 Main building of the manor
Learn about the history of the main building of Saari Manor with archaeologist Kari Uotila.

LECTURE AND GUIDED WALK:

THE MANOR AREA FROM A LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE VIEW AND GUIDED LANDSCAPE WALK

13.00-13.45 The stone barn of the mansion and the surrounding landscape
Elisa Lähde‘s and Eveliina Kunnaton‘s introduction (approx. 15 min) to the project Beyond Sustainability, followed by a guided landscape walk (approx. 30 min).

The project, initiated in 2022 with Aalto University, aims better to understand the deep interconnection between people and nature. The project challenges traditional landscape thinking towards a new approach where landscape and people are one and feed each other. The other side of sustainability is part of the Eco-Compass certification of the Saari Residence.

ON THE AREA OF THE SAARI MANOR

COMMUNITY ARTIST’S MEDAL WORKSHOP

The old barn

Want to give a medal?
In the workshop of Pia Bartsch, a community artist at Saari Residence, you can turn an old medal into a new one and make a certificate of honour. You can give them to the recipient whom you think deserves the award. The workshop is open to the public throughout the event. You are warmly welcome!

CULTURE TRAIL

The Culture Trail will open new works by poet Milka Luhtaniemi and artist Emilia Sølvesten, who have worked at Saari Residence.

EXHIBITION

Maippi Ketola: I Want To See What I Look Like
barrow shed

Visit the installation I Want To See What I Look Like by visual artist Maippi Ketola at the barrow shed along the Saaren rantatie. It is open all day.

The exhibition consists of sideshow posters I painted during and after my residency and an animated documentary filmed during 54 days of beard-growing. I shot the documentary in the autumn during my residency at Saari, when I grew a real woman’s beard. This time was the most liberating experience of my life, and I painted with a great sense of freedom. Everything was fine. I have kept my beard ever since.

BIRDHOUSE WORKSHOP

Come and make your own birdhouse with the guidance of the Nature Conservation Association of the Mynämäki Region! The workshop is located by the barbecue place near the barn, which is open all day.

RESIDENCY APARTMENTS

Find out how artists live in the residence! One of the apartments is open to the public.

CHILDCARE ROOM

Families with small children can take care of their little ones visiting the event in one of the manor’s apartments, with space for breastfeeding and equipped with changing tables, a microwave and a toilet.

Changes to the programme are possible.

COFFEE AND TEA

The Martha Association of Mietoinen serve freshly baked pulla with coffee, tea, or juice in the main building.

Changes to the programme are possible.

Bus transportation

You can also reach the manor from Turku or Mynämäki. We are organising a bus transfer from Turku via the Mynämäki centre to Saari Manor and back.

The bus will leave from Turku bus station and go via Mynämäki high school bus stop to Saari Manor in Mietoinen.

The transport is free of charge, and registration is binding.

Seating is limited: the bus can accommodate 63 people.

You can only register one person at a time.

For more information and to register, please use the link below:

Bus transportation to the Open House Day

Accessibility of the event:

The event has several different spaces: the main building, the Barn, and the Jacob’s barn.
The first floor of the main building is accessible. The accessible entrance with a wheelchair platform lift is located around the corner from the main entrance.
There is no induction loop on the premises.
There is an accessible toilet in the building. The accessible outdoor toilet is located near the Jacob’s barn.
The basement of the main building and the top floor are not barrier-free.
The Jacob’s barn is accessible.
The distance between the accessible parking space and the main building’s accessible entrance is approximately 100 m.
The footpaths in the area are mainly gravel and sand. The road between the Barn and the main building is gravel. There is a hill along the way.
The Culture Trail is a gravelled path about 500 metres long. There are level differences along the trail which means that the trail is not accessible independently, for example by wheelchair.
If you have any questions or requests regarding accessibility, please get in touch with Saari Residence at saari @ koneensaatio.fi or tel. +358 44 350 0236 (residency hostess Iiris Lahti).
The event will follow the Kone Foundation’s principles of a safer space.