‘Secrets from Forest: Company’

March 17-April 22

Finnish artist Johan Olin and Korean artist Aamu Song like to bring humor to art and design, creating products that are functional but also fun. Their novel ideas won Company, their design practice, the 2010 State Prize for Desig from the Art Council of Finland.

For “Secrets,” the series of collaborations on display in this exhibition, the duo have been applying contemporary aesthetics to traditional crafts from Finland, Russia, Korea, Estonia and Japan. The results have included new types of matryoshka (nesting) dolls, amusing interior goods and toys, stylish bags and even some unusual clothing. Their most recent products from Japan, which include a traditional wooden spinning top shaped like a doll, were inspired by the people in the Yame region of Fukuoka Prefecture.

Art Gallery Artium; IMS 8F, 1-7-11 Tenjin, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka. Tenjin Stn. 10 a.m.- 8 p.m. ¥400. Closed April 17. 092-733-2050; www.artium.jp

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