In Helsinki Biennial 2025, the curators focus on non-human subjects
The head curators of the 2025 Helsinki Biennial, Blanca de la Torre and Kati Kivinen, have undertaken the challenging task of centring their work on non-human subjects. Nudging the focus away from human-centric perspectives creates space for others and aims to pinpoint more diverse ways of sensing and transmitting information.
“Within the ongoing climate and environmental crisis, new thinking that shifts away from human-centredness is called for. It’s essential to explore perspectives beyond the human in order to reimagine the relationship between humanity and nature. Art has the power to not only generate new agencies but also to create new realities. The third Helsinki Biennial aims to motivate positive action,” says Kati Kivinen, co-curator of the 2025 Helsinki Biennial 2025.
A total of just over 30 artists or artist groups will participate in the Helsinki Biennial 2025. Artists from around the world will be included, with a particular focus on South America and Northern Europe. Around half of the artists will present new commissions or site-specific works.
Sustainability and maintaining the ecological balance are central values of the Helsinki Biennial, with environmental considerations being highlighted from the start, including in the selection of artists. The biennial aims to bridge theory and practice with a sustainability plan; the event not only proposes alternative realities but also creates them.
Co-curator Blanca de la Torre will spend most of this summer in Finland, and several artists will also visit Vallisaari in summer 2024. At HAM, contracts and production efforts are proceeding, and the first names of the participating artists will be announced in autumn 2024. The development of the audience engagement plan, as well as updates to the visitor journey and customer service initiatives, are also well underway.
Blanca de la Torre is a curator, art historian and researcher whose professional work lies at the intersection of visual arts, political ecology, ecofeminism and sustainable creative practices. Her curatorial hallmark is the developing of sustainability guidelines to reduce the ecological footprint of projects, shortening distances between theory and praxis. De la Torre has previously served as chief curator of the Cuenca Biennial in Ecuador, and has curated exhibitions widely in Europe and Latin America. Her experience further opens up Helsinki Biennial’s geographical perspective.
Kati Kivinen (PhD) is an art historian and curator, currently holding the position of Head of Exhibitions at HAM Helsinki Art Museum. In her curatorial practice, she examines contemporary artistic approaches in relation to diverse cultural processes and socio-political and ecological issues, within the specific framework of an art exhibition. Some of her recent curatorial projects include Coexistence – Human, Animal and Nature in Kiasma’s Collections (2019, in collaboration with S. Hacklin & S. Oksanen), and Fragile Times at Galerie im Körnerpark in Berlin (2020, with Dorothee Bienert).
Photo: Ilkka Saastamoinen