Helsinki Biennial is an international contemporary art event held every two years, bringing high-quality contemporary art to the maritime Vallisaari Island and the center of Helsinki.
Helsinki Biennial was held for the first time in the summer of 2021. The next biennial will take place from 8 June to 21 September 2025.
Helsinki Biennial offers a unique opportunity to discover international contemporary artists from Finland and around the world.
Helsinki Biennial is a city-wide initiative launched as part of Helsinki’s urban strategy. This ambitious event aims to transform Helsinki into an art capital with wide appeal as a cultural destination and also to strengthen the international recognition of the entire Finnish art scene.
HAM Helsinki Art Museum is in charge of organizing the ambitious contemporary art event Helsinki Biennial. The director of HAM and Helsinki Biennial is Arja Miller.
Helsinki Biennial and the public art in Helsinki, curated by HAM, go hand in hand. We want to ensure that each biennial leaves a lasting legacy in the form of public art. This not only means more sustainable practices but also directly fulfills HAM’s mission: maximizing the presence of art in Helsinki.
In practice, this means that a public artwork already planned for a specific location in Helsinki will have its premiere at the Helsinki Biennial, or that an artwork seen at the biennial will be acquired for Helsinki’s public art collection and placed in a separately designated location in the city. Sometimes, a good collaboration on a public art project may lead to another artwork being included in the Helsinki Biennial.
Alicja Kwade was one of the artists featured in the 2021 Helsinki Biennial, and her artwork is now part of Helsinki’s public art collection. The artwork consists of a natural rock and a metallic copy thereof that are symmetrically placed on both sides of a two-sided mirror. Depending on how it is approached, the mirror either reflects or creates an illusion of transparency; it both hides and supplements. The environment reflected in the mirror creates a portal between landscapes and realities. The work prompts one to think about similarity and dissimilarity and the possibilities of parallel worlds.
Parrulaituri 2, Kalasatama district
Artwork image: Big Be-Hide, 2022. Artwork at Helsinki’s Kalasatama district. Photo: HAM / Maija Toivanen.
Alicja Kwade was one of the artists featured in the 2021 Helsinki Biennial, and her artwork is now part of Helsinki’s public art collection. The artwork consists of eight stone spheres reminiscent of planets. For the Helsinki edition of the work, the artist chose primarily Nordic types of rock. Visible on the stones is the ancient process that formed them, age and the passage of time. The Latin title of the work, Pars Pro Toto, ‘a part for the whole,’ expresses one of the dimensions of the work: from atoms to solar systems, the structures of the universe keep repeating. The existence of individuals is contrasted with the massive scales of time and matter.
Capellanranta 1, Kalasatama district
Artwork image: Pars pro Toto, 2022. Detail of the artwork at Helsinki’s Kalasatama district. Photo: HAM / Maija Toivanen.
Laura Könönen was one of the artists featured in the 2021 Helsinki Biennial, and her artwork is now part of Helsinki’s public art collection. The work consists of roughly sculpted boulders of various sizes. Each boulder has one polished surface spray-painted with azure car paint, with the colour gradually changing from dark to light. According to the artist, the boulders form a puzzle of a kind – as if pieces of the sky had randomly fallen to Earth. In the work, the sky, believed to be eternal, and stone, considered an unyielding material, break into pieces. It can be seen as a metaphor for our world where established truths are breaking and changing.
Hyväntoivonpuisto Park, Jätkäsaari district
Artwork image: No Heaven up in the Sky, 2024. Detail of the artwork in Helsinki’s Jätkäsaari district. Photo: HAM / Sonja Hyytiäinen.
Photo: HAM/Helsinki Biennial/Matti Pyykkö