Kohti tuntematonta (‘Towards the unknown’) – Pasi Pitkänen’s illustrations of dizzying adventures

Pasi Pitkänen’s atmospheric illustrations open windows to imaginary worlds. What kind of foreign realities do you see in the pictures?

Kohti tuntematonta (‘Towards the unknown’) invites you to jump into the adventure! Illustration plays an important role in bringing words to life. See for yourself! You may see mysterious places, strange creatures, light and shadow, magical snakes and fascinating runic characters. Pitkänen’s illustrations exude excitement, threat and even some danger. Do you dare look at the image, pick up a book and head into the unknown?

The exhibition and event for children and young people is a compilation of Pasi Pitkänen’s extensive illustrations. The exhibition includes a selection of images from book series in which Pitkänen is an equal creator alongside the authors: Pate (Timo Parvela), Kepler62 (Timo Parvela and Bjørn Sortland), Paavali Pattinen (Hannele Lampela) and Ouroboros (Silja Sillanpää).

The exhibition is open from 13 August to 26 September 2026. The accompanying programme to the exhibition is aimed at schools and families. On International Literacy Day on 8 September, Vuotalo will host a morning of events for schoolchildren, and on Saturday 19 September, the centre will host a family day, both with Pasi Pitkänen. On Monday mornings, the exhibition space will be reserved for workshops for schoolchildren.

Pasi Pitkänen is a versatile illustrator, writer and graphic designer whose works have also achieved international success. Pitkänen graduated as a graphic designer from Aalto University and has worked as an illustrator, character designer and graphic designer at Rovio Entertainment. He now works as a freelance illustrator and lives in Japan for part of the year.

The exhibition and the event have been produced by Salla Fornaro from Vuotalo’s cultural services and Emilia Kämäräinen from Vuosaari Library in collaboration with Pasi Pitkänen.

The exhibition and events are free of charge.