Helsinki Biennial 2023 brings together 29 artists and collectives to exhibit across Vallisaari Island and the Finnish capital

Helsinki Biennial 2023 is delighted to share the 29 international artists and collectives participating in its second edition, New Directions May Emerge, curated by Joasia Krysa and produced by HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Opening to the public on 12 June, an annual Helsinki Day celebration in in the Finnish capital, the biennial comprises around 50% new commissions and site-specific works which engage with some of the pressing issues of our time, encompassing environmental damage, political conflict and the impact of technology. For New Directions May Emerge, Krysa has joined forces with five curatorial collaborators: Critical Environmental Data, Museum of Impossible Forms, TBA21-Academy, ViCCA @ Aalto Arts, and an A.I. Entity. 

This year, the biennial’s central location of Vallisaari Island in the Helsinki archipelago will have a particular emphasis on outdoor artworks which subtly operate in dialogue with the surrounding environment and its unique ecosystem. In addition, a 20-minute ferry ride away, artworks and the wider biennial programme sprawl across mainland venues including HAM Helsinki Art Museum, Helsinki Central Library Oodi, Stoa and Caisa Cultural Centers, other public spaces in the city, and online, accessible via helsinkibiennial.fi.  

The Helsinki Biennial 2023 participants include: 

Matti Aikio (Sápmi) *
Ahmed Al-Nawas & Minna Henriksson (FI) *
Dineo Seshee Bopape (ZA)
Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley (UK/DE)
Golden Snail Opera (Anna Tsing, Yen-ling Tsai, Isabelle Carbonell, & Joelle Chevrier) (TW/FR/US)
Alma Heikkilä (FI) *
INTERPRT (NO) *
Keiken (UK) *
Sonya Lindfors (CM/FI) *
Lotta Petronella sekä Sami Tallberg & Lau Nau (FI) *
Asunción Molinos Gordo (ES)
Tuula Närhinen (FI)
PHOSfate (SH/FI)
Diana Policarpo (PR)
Sepideh Rahaa (IR/FI)
Bita Razavi (FI/IR/EE)
RED FOREST (UA/UK/US/MX/DE/FI/ZA) *
Remedies (Sasha Huber & Petri Saarikko) (CH/FI) *
Tabita Rezaire (FR)
Emilija Škarnulytė (LT) *
Yehwan Song (KR) *
Jenna Sutela (FI)
Suzanne Treister (UK)
Adrián Villar Rojas (AR) *
Zheng Mahler (HK)

*An asterisk denotes a new commission. 

READ MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS.

Supporters 

The main partners of Helsinki Biennial include Metsähallitus, S Group and Clear Channel.  It is also supported by Saastamoinen Foundation.

Helsinki Biennial 2023 co-commissioners include Copenhagen Contemporary, KANAL – Centre Pompidou, TBA21-Academy, and University of Zurich.

With thanks to Aalto University, Aarhus University, British Council, British Embassy Helsinki, Frame Contemporary Art Finland, Liverpool John Moores University, MO.CO.ESBA Montpellier Contemporain – Ecole Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Uniarts Helsinki, and Uniarts Research Pavilion.