CONTEMPORARY ART EXHIBITIONS
During 2025, the union has developed a new triennial exhibition concept, which will be held for the first time in 2027. The Poleeni Cultural Center in Pieksämäki has been confirmed as the exhibition venue. The 2023 triennial has also been tentatively planned to be held at the Kemi Art Museum.
One of the key principles of organizing the exhibition is regional equality, whereby the aim of the triennial is to organize it in a different region each year. The exhibition is organized in cooperation with a local artist organization and a producer from the region in question is hired to produce it. The triennial exhibition thus enables the realization of regional equality, the employment of local art professionals, and networking as visual artists from different regions come together to organize and celebrate the exhibition. The goal is a high-quality and curated exhibition.
The Finnish Union of Fine Arts was previously known especially for its national annual exhibitions, which the union organized in different parts of Finland from the very beginning. Through its exhibition activities, the association aimed to promote the visibility and impact of fine arts throughout the country. The annual exhibitions were organized in art museums and other central exhibition spaces in cooperation with member organizations and other local cultural actors. The exhibitions were one of the few exhibitions in Finland that were curated on the basis of a completely open call. Applications for the exhibitions were open to all Finnish and Finnish-based artists, artist groups and art university students. You can find out about previous annual exhibitions on this page.
KYLLÄ -ANNUAL EXHIBITION AT THE RIIHIMÄKI ART MUSEUM 2017
“Yes” is an affirmative answer to a question. Yes to an experience, life, feeling, or action. Yes represents openness, curiosity, and courage. Where “no” signifies refusal and an attempt to stop, yes grabs the questioner by the hand.
The Finnish Union of Fine Arts Associations' annual exhibition 2017 was held at the Riihimäki Art Museum from 7 October 2017 to 28 January 2018. The 23 artists in the exhibition were Miia Autio, Edwina Goldstone, Reetta Gröhn-Soininen, Mikko Haiko, Sini-Meri Hedberg, Mollu Heino, Kaija Hinkula, Niina Huovinen, Sara Ilveskorpi, Sanna Kananoja, Laura Lappi, Maija Lassila, Hanna Makkonen, Leena Niivuori, Joel Rahkonen, Margarita Rosselló Ramón, Hanna Råst, Mia Saharla, Jukka Silokunnäs, Johanna Sinkkonen, Suvi Suikki, Jonna Suurhasko and Ona Taskinen.
The exhibition is curated by Eeva Holkeri, Aleksandra Kiskonen, Anna-Kaisa Rastenberger and Mariliis Rebane.
Art knows no boundaries between cities or municipalities. Art is not made only in Helsinki, but all over Finland. The harvest is harvested where passion, love and patience are present. The Yes exhibition says no to inequality and regional division. The annual exhibition of the Finnish Association of Fine Arts, which is a nationwide, open-ended competition, is not about who knows whom. The works in the Yes exhibition were selected based on electronic application materials. The application was open to all Finnish and Finnish-based artists and artist groups, as well as to students of fine arts at universities. The focus of the exhibition is the work and its potential. As an exhibition, Yes says yes to presence, details, lightness, reflection, friendship, beauty, discussion and change.
ONNI -THEME EXHIBITION at the Lapua Art Museum 2017
Artists in the exhibition: Susanne Gottberg (Helsinki), Liisa Halmesmäki (Seinäjoki), Sini-Meri Hedberg & Jaana Valtari (Turku), Elina Helkala (Turku), Gunzi Holmström (Helsinki), Soile Hovila (Karkkila), Mari Isotalo (Hämeenlinna), Maaria Jokimies (Lappeenranta), Leena Kangas (Oulu), Esko Keski-Vähälä (Kokkola), Kastehelmi Korpijaakko (Helsinki), Enni Kömmistö (Helsinki), Hanna Makkonen (Imatra), Aleksi Matikainen (Turku), Heidi Anniina Mattila (Helsinki), Paula Mikkilä (Tampere), Okku Nuutilainen (Helsinki), Irina Rebnitskaya (Espoo), Topi Ruotsalainen (Helsinki), Eliisa Tuisku (Helsinki) and Jenni Viita (Lappeenranta).
The exhibition presented a diverse and challenging coverage of how artists interpret happiness in contemporary Finland. We are living in a period of profound transformation that is changing our perceptions of ourselves and our attitudes as Finns, Europeans and global citizens. What unites us all? What is worth striving for? What makes us happy? The ONNI theme exhibition was part of the program for the centenary of Finland's independence.
The curator of the ONNI exhibition was Sanna Sarva, born in Hämeenlinna, who has studied art at the Slade School in London, among others, and graduated with a Master of Fine Arts from the Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki (1998). Sarva has also completed a Master of Arts degree in Curating and Exhibition Pedagogy at Aalto University (2013). Sarva has curated exhibitions for, among others, the Jyväskylä Art Museum (The 3 Inch Canvas, 2010) and the Finnish Museum of Photography (From Pictures of Death, 2012). Sarva is also a board member of the Finnish Association of Curators.
KUOLEMA -THEME EXHIBITION AT THE MIKKELI ART MUSEUM 2016
According to Paula Hyvönen, curator of the Mikkeli Art Museum, who was the jury member of the DEATH exhibition, "Death is one of the great mysteries of life, which fascinates and scares. Not necessarily the process of dying itself, but the uncertainty of what happens after death - or whether there is anything at all. A rational person strives to explain and organize their existence, and the transience of death, the transition from this to something unknown, creates uncertainty. What is certain is that everyone's journey on the earthly path will eventually end."
"Death and birth are the fundamental questions of our existence, and dealing with them is an important part of the artistic tradition. In visual art, the skull, scythe, hourglass and skeleton have become traditional symbols and personifications of death. The meaning of these is easily interpreted, but death can also be represented indirectly. The change of seasons, the ages of a person, the cycle of life and transience can be presented as metaphors for death."
"The Death exhibition opening at the Mikkeli Art Museum looks at death from many different perspectives. Death is an atmosphere created by colors, human aging, suicides, loss of loved ones, memories, the death of a pet, vanitas motifs, skeletons, skulls, but also the possibility of a new birth. As Jedi Master Yoda states: "Death is a natural part of life." (Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, 2005)".
DEEPER THAN THE SURFACE AT SEINÄJOKI ART HALL 2015-2016
According to art historian Harri Hirvonen, the jury member of the annual exhibition DEEPER THAN THE SURFACE, “The annual exhibition offers a good opportunity to update and review perceptions of what is being done in the field of contemporary art today. There are no longer any actual schools of thought, perhaps with the exception of some educational guidelines of art schools. Contemporary art is more international than ever – an ism-free zone – where influences move freely and quickly across borders.”
“Instead of a single unified story, artists draw more and more directly from their own personal experiences in their work. In the annual exhibition, we enter precisely this world that lies deeper than the surface layer of the work. Not everything in the works in the exhibition is exactly as it might seem at first glance. The exhibition experience can be both beautiful and delicate and cruel and brutal at the same time.” In Hirvonen’s opinion, it is of paramount importance that “an artist dislocates our familiar and safe way of seeing and experiencing the world and challenges us to change our perspective in relation to our own values and ideals.”