Art Retret excavated inside the bedrock has seen art and given concerts, but reopening is delayed

Retreat Art Center the new opening in Punkaharju will be delayed due to financial difficulties.

“The renovation of the Saimaa Art Cave Retreat has been suspended and the opening of the exhibition at the beginning of June is unlikely,” says the CEO Jussi Silvennoinen in the bulletin.

According to the press release, approximately EUR 10 million has already been invested in the renovation in a couple of years, but completion would require an additional EUR 5 million.

The money would be used to build a “digital experience area, a Rock Hall and a restaurant area”.

Inside the bedrock The art center, excavated in the early 1980s, was once a popular tourist destination for exhibitions of major visual arts.

The artist of the opening exhibition was Albert Edelfeltand was later seen in the Retreat, among others Marc Chagallin and Ilja Repinin art.

Concerts were held in the thousand-seat Kalliosali in cooperation with the Savonlinna Opera Festival.

However, the operation went bankrupt twice: first in 1987, then again in 2012.

In recent years, caverns renovation began again for art and event use, and in the summer of 2021 a video work on the Kalevala was shown there, which was visited by about 30,000 viewers.

The animated story parts in Sampo’s Robbery were supplemented with video and light subjects projected around them. Picture: Juha Metso

development- and the investment phase has now been underway since 2018. It includes the refurbishment of the entire 6,000-square-foot cavern area as well as the launch of new operations.

The property is owned by Sinikka Mäkelä and Pekka Nurminen and their company Tuunaansaaren Luola oy. Mäkelä is a major investor in Retret’s former owner Kai Mäkelän widow.

According to CEO Silvennoinen, the financial difficulties are due to Kai Mäkelä’s inheritance process:

“It’s pending, and that’s why the owners can’t use their funds the way the renovation work would require,” Silvennoinen says over the phone.

Due to the situation, Retret’s management team has decided to lay off Retret’s own personnel largely for the time being. At the same time, the first planned exhibition will be canceled The mystery of the glacier.

The art cave on Punkaharju on Tuunaansaari has now been renovated for more than a year. Some of the buildings on the ground have been demolished and some modernized. Of the original buildings in the retreat, Bunker and Nut are left. Picture: Juha Metso

Silvennoinen likes however, as a small evil, if only the repair of the cave and the redevelopment of the area are made to proceed. It would also allow for significant new construction on land.

“Financing is now being discussed with both Finnish and international investors,” he says.

“The intention has been to expand the ownership base. Now, funding is only being sought earlier than originally thought. ”