Design competition for former president Koivisto’s grave memorial opened

The committee set up in August by the Prime Minister’s Office for the purpose of arranging a grave memorial for former President of the Republic of Finland Mauno Koivisto is to hold a design competition for the design of the memorial. The competition was announced officially on 2 January 2018.

The grave memorial committee, headed by Permanent State Under-Secretary Timo Lankinen, invites professional Finnish artists and professional foreign artists permanently resident in Finland to take part in the competition. The aim is that the grave memorial will be ready and in place at the Hietaniemi Cemetery for the date of Mauno Koivisto’s birthday on 25 November 2018.

Timetable and prizes of the design competition for the grave memorial

The competition is announced on 2 January 2018
The competition will close on 14 March 2018
The results will be announced on 9 April 2018

The winning prize will be EUR 18,000, and it will be distributed as follows:

EUR 10,000
EUR  5,000
EUR  3,000

Composition of the judging committee

The judging committee is formed by the members of former president Koivisto’s grave memorial committee:

Timo Lankinen, Permanent State Under-Secretary, Prime Minister's Office (chair)
Antti Ahlava, Vice President, Professor, Aalto University
Heikki Allonen, Master of Science, representative of Koivisto’s immediate family
Risto Lehto, Chief of environment and cemeteries, Lutheran Parish Union of Helsinki
Petri Oittinen, Chief Verger, Helsinki Cathedral parish
Susanna Pettersson, Museum Director, Ateneum Art Museum
Pirjo Sanaksenaho, Associate Professor, Building Design, Aalto University

The Artists' Association of Finland has appointed the following professional artists as members of the committee:

Maija Helasvuo, sculptor
Pasi Rauhala, artist

Sanna Helopuro, Senior Advisor for Legislative Affairs at the Prime Minister's Office, will serve as committee secretary. Lawyer Jussi Ilvonen at The Artists’ Association of Finland will serve as a mediator in the design competition.

The programme of the design competition and additional information can be read at vnk.fi/gravememorial

Inquiries: Timo Lankinen, Permanent State Under-Secretary, tel. +358 295 160 300; and Sanna Helopuro, Senior Advisor for Legislative Affairs, tel. +358 295 160 170, Prime Minister's Office