Helsinki Biennial 2025 brings together 37 artists and collectives

Helsinki Biennial 2025 brings together 37 artists and collectives on Vallisaari Island, in Esplanade Park, and at HAM Helsinki Art Museum. Organised for the third time, the theme of this year’s biennial is Shelter: Below and Beyond, Becoming and Belonging. Helsinki Biennial will be held from 8 June to 21 September 2025.

The curators of Helsinki Biennial 2025, Blanca de la Torre and Kati Kivinen, drew inspiration from the protected Vallisaari Island, which has been preserved from human habitation for decades. Helsinki Biennial 2025 explores the significance of shelter and turns the gaze towards non-human nature. In the works, the focus shifts from humans to animals, water, plants, insects, minerals, and other living agents and their role as contributors to our planet’s well-being.

– Helsinki Biennial 2025 provides a unique opportunity to re-evaluate our conception of the relationship between humans and nature. Amid the diverse environment of Vallisaari Island, the climate crisis, and the loss of biodiversity, the biennial invites reflection on shelter as a caring space where all lifeforms can thrive. We want to create new ways of coexisting in a world that needs more understanding and empathy and to inspire positive environmental action, curators Kati Kivinen and Blanca de la Torre say.

The third edition of Helsinki Biennial will once again showcase artists around the world. This time, the biennial features 37 artists and collectives representing 30 cultures, particularly from the Nordic Countries, Latin America, and Asia.

The artists and collectives of Helsinki Biennial 2025 are:

Maria Thereza Alves (BR/DE)
Band of Weeds (FI)
Ana Teresa Barboza (PE)
Sissel M Bergh (Sápmi/NO)
Sara Bjarland (FI/NL)
Saskia Calderón (EC)
Edgar Calel (GT)
Tania Candiani (MX)
Regina de Miguel (ES/DE)
Olafur Eliasson (DK/IS)
Carola Grahn (Saepmie/SE)
Tue Greenfort (DK)
Kalle Hamm (FI) & Dzamil Kamanger (IR/FI)
Tamara Henderson (CA/AU)
Gunzi Holmström (FI)
Katie Holten (IE/US)
Ingela Ihrman (SE)
Geraldine Javier (PH)
Aluaiy Kaumakan (TW)
Kristiina Koskentola (FI/NL)
Yayoi Kusama (JP)
Jenni Laiti (FI/SE) & Carl-Johan Utsi (SE)
LOCUS / Thale Blix Fastvold & Tanja Thorjussen (NO)
nabbteeri (FI)
Ernesto Neto (BR)
Otobong Nkanga (NG/BE)
Giuseppe Penone (IT)
Laura Põld (EE/AT)
Marjetica Potrč (SI)
Kati Roover (EE/FI)
Hans Rosenström (FI)
Paul Rosero Contreras (EC)
Raimo Saarinen (FI)
Pia Sirén (FI)
Theresa Traore Dahlberg (SE/BF)
Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas (LT/US)
Juan Zamora (ES)

Read more about the artists on the Helsinki Biennial website.

___

Helsinki Biennial is an international contemporary art event organised every other year. Its third edition takes place from 8 June to 21 September 2025. The biennial is a joint project of the City of Helsinki and part of the Helsinki City Strategy. The biennial is curated and produced by HAM Helsinki Art Museum.

Helsinki Biennial’s main supporter for 2025–2027 is the Jane and Aatos Erkko Foundation. Other supporters of Helsinki Biennial 2025 include the Tiftö Foundation, Saastamoinen Foundation, and John Nurminen Foundation. Helsinki Biennial 2025 is also supported by the Finnish Heritage Agency. Numerous international foundations and funds as well as embassies in Finland have supported the production of artworks. The main partners of Helsinki Biennial 2025 are Metsähallitus and Helsingin Sanomat, with S Group hotels as the accommodation and event partner.