On Klovharu Island, Tove Jansson’s spirit and handprint live on

Located far out in the archipelago of Gulf of Finland, the island of Klovharu was Tove Jansson’s haven, summertime paradise and source of inspiration for nearly 30 years. The atmosphere of the tiny, rocky islet can be sensed in Jansson’s Moomin books and throughout her artistic work. Explore the unique island with Design Stories!

TOVE JANSSON loved islands. Especially small and lonely islands, where you could feel freedom and peace and the sense of great adventure. Tove, having spent her childhood summers in the Porvoo archipelago in Southern Finland, dreamed of having an island of her own at an early age and looked for a perfect, suitably remote place for a long time.

First, she tried to realize her dream of living on a lighthouse island, but that proved impossible. Then she rented an island with his brother Lars and built a cottage there, but the island was soon filled with frequently visiting relatives and friends. Finally, she found the rocky and isolated islet of Klovharu in the outer archipelago of Porvoo, and it charmed both Tove and her life partner, art graphic artist Tuulikki "Tooti" Pietilä.

It was no easy task to get a building permit for the deserted islet, and Tove and Tooti stayed in a tent on Klovharu while they waited for the permission to start building. One evening, a local builder and fisherman came ashore and told the couple that they would most likely never get a building permit, but by law, a building cannot be torn down if it is already built. So they decided to start building immediately. The modest cottage, comprising one room and windows opening in all four directions, was completed in the summer of 1965.

Tove and Tooti lived on Klovharu every summer, from spring to autumn. They spent time on the island writing and making visual art, entertaining the occasional surprise visitors and observing nature. Nature was not always favorable: the surging waves of the open sea broke jetties and the sea birds nesting on the island hated the intruders relentlessly. Tove used to take a break from her creative work and clear her head by chopping wood and rolling rocks – a great rock, weighing about 50 tonnes, had been blasted to make way for the cottage, and rock debris had been scattered across the island.

Tove and Tooti lived on Klovharu every summer, from spring to autumn.

Tove’s love for the islands and the sea is the cross-cutting theme in all of her production, from visual art to the Moomin books. During the years spent on the island, she created for example the classic books Moominpappa at Sea (1965) and Moominvalley in November (1970). Many of the Moomin stories’ main themes, such as adventure, desire for freedom and loneliness, are expressed in the works through the sea and islands.

Tove and Tooti lived on Klovharu for almost 30 years, until the early 1990s. They also knew when the time had come to give up their paradise and move to the safety of the city apartment to spend their late years.

“And last summer, something unforgivable happened: I started to fear the sea. The giant waves no longer signified adventure, but fear, fear and worry for the boat and all the other boats that were sailing in bad weather. [...] We knew that it was time to give the cottage away,” Tove wrote in the book Anteckningar från en ö (Notes From an Island, 1996).

The couple left the island in 1992 and never returned, not even for a short visit. They donated the island to Pellinge Hembygdsförening, a local heritage association, which rents the cottage as an artists’ residence and also organizes popular open days and guided tours on the island every year.

The photos for the article are by Nora Forsman, Communications Manager at Keep the Archipelago Tidy Association, who had the privilege to visit Klovharu a few years ago with her colleagues.

“The island had a truly magical atmosphere. It’s hard to describe. The spirit of Tove and Tuulikki seemed to be present. The rugged islet was magnificent, completely isolated from the rest of the world. We spent our days there at the end of August and, unbelievable as it may seem, I also saw the Northern Lights there!

The cottage was very authentic, and as far as I know, nothing much has been changed there since Tove and Tuulikki left the island for the last time. It was wonderful to study, for example, spice jars with labels written by them. The couple's handprint was visible everywhere. It was amazing to use their everyday items, such as dishes or even the flyswat, let alone sit at their desk,” says Forsman.

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Text: Nora Uotila Images: Nora Forsman and Moomin Characters™