Zilliacus and Häkkinen buy Retretti art cavern

Investor Thomas Zilliacus and light artist Marko Häkkinen have bought the Retretti art cavern in Punkaharju, Yle reported on Thursday. Retretti will reopen on Friday, and Häkkinen’s light and sound work Pulse of the Earth will remain on display at least through September.

The purchase was formally completed on Thursday.

Zilliacus bought Hotel Punkaharju, Keisarinnan Huvila and the steamship Paul Wahl, which operated from Savonlinna, earlier this year.

Zilliacus and Häkkinen first met about a month ago when Zilliacus visited the exhibition. During the visit, they began discussing Retretti’s future together.

“Retretti fits seamlessly into my plans to build an internationally appealing, leading year-round cultural and tourism centre in the Punkaharju area, based on the region’s history and nature,” Zilliacus said in a statement.

The company behind Retretti is Itä-Suomi Nousee, founded by Zilliacus and Häkkinen. Häkkinen will be responsible for the artistic planning and management of Retretti.

“We do not want to do just one thing at Retretti. The strength of this unique place lies in the number of different opportunities it offers,” Häkkinen said in the statement.

Savonlinna acting city manager Ding Ma said the city had discussed a possible purchase of Retretti with Zilliacus earlier, but he was not interested in investing in the venue at that time. The popularity of Häkkinen’s work this summer appears to have drawn his attention.

The City of Savonlinna helped make this summer’s exhibition possible.

“Together with the artist, we created a pilot project that allowed us to show the untapped potential revealed by Retretti,” Ding Ma told Yle on Tuesday.

Pulse of the Earth will be on display at Retretti again from Friday onwards.