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

The next Helsinki Biennial takes place from 12 June to 17 September 2023.
View from the island of Vallisaari. Flowers in the forefront. People on the stairs. The sea is in the background.
Biennial’s central location is Vallisaari Island in the Helsinki archipelago. Photo: JP Ronkainen

Helsinki Biennial 2023 welcomes 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, 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.